Just when I thought Cuomo couldn't stoop any lower...

[traininthedistance]

F**ker decides to pre-emptively shut down the MTA so he can appear "tough on weather" despite the agency not really wanting or needing a shutdown (it'd cost more to stow all those trains and cancel all those shifts", leading to the ghastly spectre of trains running with normal- empty- service inside stations barricaded off to riders.

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/01/subway-running-blizzard.html

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And this in the wake of Cuomo deciding to, in his recent budget announcement:

* rob the MTA's operating budget to pay for debt service, with only vague promises of filling to back in from the General Fund (which of course he can and will revoke as soon as convenient)
* screw other state transit agencies even worse, so it's not like it's an NYC-only thing, the traditional cores Upstate are getting bent here too
* use the bank settlement windfall to mostly keep tolls down on the Thruway (and let's not forget about his Tappan Zee boondoggle), while of course subway riders are going to have bi-yearly fare hikes until the end of time, because apparently city dwellers are less fully human than suburbanites or something
* barely touch the MTA capital plan, which is pretty scary as far as procuring contracts goes, and keep in mind that this plan is VERY modest and deals with only the most bare-bones necessities like state of good repair and the desperately-need Phase 2 of the SAS...

I could go on and on all day.  It's clear that Cuomo wants nothing more than to stick a shiv into the beating heart of his state, to ignore the actual pressing needs of millions of New Yorkers, to pander to the extremities by depriving the core which not only is a full half the state population, but also simultaneously has the state's most needy while serving as the economic dynamo without which those extremities would be up sh*t's creek...

Anyway, you get the idea.  I could keep ranting on but let's call that enough for tonight.  Aaaaaargh. F**k Cuomo.  F**k him right in the eye.

[traininthedistance]

And, just to make clear: I could understand and forgive this sort of car-only thinking if Cuomo was the governor of a more rural state like Iowa or Mississippi.  (Well, I still wouldn't necessarily like it, my views being what they are, but I'd live with it. )  But one would think that even the city-phobic and transit-averse among us here could recognize that New York of all places is a different animal, and that Cuomo's priorities are perversely hostile to not just the needs of NYC, but really by any remotely fair accounting the needs of the state as a whole.

[Simfan34]

I saw that. It seems pretty bad, yes, but I also read it was easier to keep some trains running than it was to send them all to the depots like they did during Sandy. Had they done that we'd have had delays for long after the ban was lifted. And I shudder to think of all the slipping and falling that would have happened had people taken the trains. (Another thing we need: platform screens).

Either way though it does come across as bluster for appearances' sake. I might be projecting, but by all indications the boom in project launches under Bloomie has ground to a halt in the past year (and no, I am not just blaming de Blasio). All while they raise fares again. For what? Perhaps the problem is that the "liberal" cause of mass transit requires "conservative" solutions.

Why is the New Tappan Zee Bridge a "boondoggle", though? The current bridge is falling apart.

[bedstuy]

I hate him so much.

[Simfan34]

I hate him so much.

Yes, sometimes he can be too good at aping a right-winger, even for me.

[Cory]

I hate him so much.

[bedstuy]

I hate him so much.

Yes, sometimes he can be too good at aping a right-winger, even for me.

I don't know how much politics even play into it.  He's a Cuomo-winger. 

Andrew Cuomo doesn't care about New York.  He doesn't care about the people of this state.  He doesn't care about the wisdom of his decisions.  He doesn't care who he hurts.  He always makes the decision that is politically easiest for Andrew Cuomo.  So, he uses budgetary alchemy that he hopes nobody will call him on.  He would steal candy from a baby, he would sucker punch your grandmother, he would light an orphanage on fire, he would tie a damsel to the rail road tacks, as long as he thought it would be politically beneficial and safe for Andrew Cuomo.  He has no scruples.  As we say in New York, he's gaab-age.

[traininthedistance]

I saw that. It seems pretty bad, yes, but I also read it was easier to keep some trains running than it was to send them all to the depots like they did during Sandy. Had they done that we'd have had delays for long after the ban was lifted. And I shudder to think of all the slipping and falling that would have happened had people taken the trains. (Another thing we need: platform screens).

Either way though it does come across as bluster for appearances' sake. I might be projecting, but by all indications the boom in project launches under Bloomie has ground to a halt in the past year (and no, I am not just blaming de Blasio). All while they raise fares again. For what? Perhaps the problem is that the "liberal" cause of mass transit requires "conservative" solutions.

Why is the New Tappan Zee Bridge a "boondoggle", though? The current bridge is falling apart.

I wouldn't go so far to say "conservative" solutions (certainly, in an American context, the conservative "solution" is endless sprawl for those who can and leave the city to burn because f**k liberals), but, y'know, "liberal" as opposed to "socialist" solutions I could buy.  Though your perception of Bloomy is a little skewed: the fares went up under him too; a lot of it is the random chance of project timing; even his stuff is coming in way over budget; and I do have a bone to pick with how he handled the 7 extension, trying to get a celebratory ride in long before revenue service happens and throwing the planned 10th Ave stop- which serves lots of real people in a very transit-starved neighborhood- under the bus to preserve the more speculative developer-windfall Hudson Yards stuff instead.

(Despite those nitpicks I will agree that Bloomy was uncommonly fantastic when it came to transit issues.)

As for the Tappan Zee, there's a whole lot of stuff- a) it's not really falling down, it's merely "functionally obsolete" rather than "structurally deficient" (the former designation really just means "crowded and old" and is not a quarter as dire as it sounds, unlike the latter which would be a problem); b) he's basically making it twice as large as it needs to be; c) he threw away months of planning process that called for dedicated transit facilities on and around it because supposedly "we couldn't afford it" never mind that it's being built way too big as-is; d) speaking of can't afford, he's trying to steal from the state clean water fund to pay for it, and e) basically all the independent audits have said it'll be a financial disaster that has no hope of ever paying for itself because setting tolls high enough to do so will lead to a "death spiral" of disuse; f) let alone setting tolls high enough he's basically put any hike off the table because who cares about externalities, or fiscal responsibility, or the future, or any of the other zillion things that the TZ construction money would be better used for.  All that matters is shiny photo-ops and pandering to spoiled motorists.

I mean, yeah.  At some point the Tappan Zee will have to be replaced.  But it needs to be replaced right, with dedicated transit lanes and a sustainable (i.e. not drastically increased) number of car lanes and a responsible funding source that doesn't steal from other important (and not-actually-related) programs and which is similarly, tolled at a responsible level. 

Cuomo's plan, as is?  Pure boondoggle.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

8 inches of snow was clearly the most devastating blizzard in the 110 history of the subway.
Weird how De Blasio found out the same time as everyone else.

[they don't love you like i love you]

Well at least this makes him look like a fool and isn't giving him positive PR. He clearly didn't think it through either.

And sheesh 8 inches? We still run our BUSES at well over that. The one blizzard this century that had the busses pulled was 29 inches.

[greenforest32]

He could be NY-Gov for quite a while since New York doesn't have term limits.

[MaxQue]

He could be NY-Gov for quite a while since New York doesn't have term limits.

Given a very lousy candidate like Zephyr Teachout got 34%, I doubt it. He may fall at the first serious challenge.

[greenforest32]

He could be NY-Gov for quite a while since New York doesn't have term limits.

Given a very lousy candidate like Zephyr Teachout got 34%, I doubt it. He may fall at the first serious challenge.

Maybe. There's also the possibility he gets the legislature to adopt the top-two primary or something before 2018. Wouldn't put it past them.

[they don't love you like i love you]

I'm hoping he gets indicted and convicted.

[TDAS04]

He could be NY-Gov for quite a while since New York doesn't have term limits.

Given a very lousy candidate like Zephyr Teachout got 34%, I doubt it. He may fall at the first serious challenge.

Hope you're right.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

I'm hoping he gets indicted and convicted.

[emailking]

8 inches of snow was clearly the most devastating blizzard in the 110 history of the subway.
Weird how De Blasio found out the same time as everyone else.

And sheesh 8 inches? We still run our BUSES at well over that. The one blizzard this century that had the busses pulled was 29 inches.

They got 2 feet 40 miles away. That's within the error bars of the simulations. The models can't discriminate that kind of a difference in snowfall over that distance. It was believed the 2 feet was likely to hit NYC. You can blame physics, math, and computer science if you don't like how that works I guess. Or maybe you can make the argument that buses should run in 2 feet of snow. But as far as I can tell, the officials were acting on the best information they had.

[they don't love you like i love you]

Why not wait and see before making the decision? Also as noted the subway is not buses.

[traininthedistance]

But as far as I can tell, the officials were acting on the best information they had.

The "best information they had" would have been to listen to the actual professionals at the MTA, who knew that shutting things down this far in advance (when trains and buses can in fact run in a fair amount of snow)  was unnecessary and even harmful.  Cuomo just decided to do it by fiat to look like a REEL LEADUR, without any input from other levels of government or experts within the agency itself.

[bedstuy]

But as far as I can tell, the officials were acting on the best information they had.

The "best information they had" would have been to listen to the actual professionals at the MTA, who knew that shutting things down this far in advance (when trains and buses can in fact run in a fair amount of snow)  was unnecessary and even harmful.  Cuomo just decided to do it by fiat to look like a REEL LEADUR, without any input from other levels of government or experts within the agency itself.

I assume it was something like this.  The sad truth is that every big storm in a post-Katrina, post-Sandy world is seen partially as springboard for political grandstanding and a demonstration of how serious and engaged you are.  It's crazy because the subway had never shut down for snow before. 

[The Free North]

So would you rather have Cuomo not take drastic measures in what was modeled to be (at least until 12 hours before it hit) a storm for the ages.

Politically considering how bloomberg handled the boxing day blizzard, there was no way Cuomo was going to take things lightly.

Let me remind you that this was the NWS forecast for the region......how would you react as governor? Putting aside all of the other issues, I can't fault him for being overly cautious.

[bedstuy]

The Subway didn't close for the giant blizzards of 96' or 06'.  Why not switch to a holiday schedule, shut down pieces of the subway if need be and use the money you generate from metrocard swipes to pay for emergency overtime crews to keep the subway operational?

[Torie]

What is Cuomo's motive for all of this as alleged?  Why would you want to gratuitously shut down the MTA?  Why would he want to give greater subsidies for highway tolls upstate than subway tolls in the City? The whole thing doesn't quite hang together for me. I bet Cuomo is glad Silver is gone however.

[emailking]

Why not wait and see before making the decision?

Because by then you might be screwed?

Also as noted the subway is not buses.

Well you said buses in your post.

The "best information they had" would have been to listen to the actual professionals at the MTA, who knew that shutting things down this far in advance (when trains and buses can in fact run in a fair amount of snow)

But 2 feet? Even if you could get the buses running, someone still has to get there to drive it. I'm not talking about underground subway trains that run automatically. Although I imagine people still have to be there to oversee it? People that should probably be home if there's that much snow.

[bedstuy]

What is Cuomo's motive for all of this as alleged?  Why would you want to gratuitously shut down the MTA?  Why would he want to give greater subsidies for highway tolls upstate than subway tolls in the City? The whole thing doesn't quite hang together for me. I bet Cuomo is glad Silver is gone however.

Person A:

White guy, 2 kids, house mortgage, swing voter, makes $120k a year, lives in Nyack, drives a car, uses the subway 1 every two weeks or so. 

vs.

Person B:

Black woman, 3 kids, renter, votes for Democrats 100% of the time, lives in Brooklyn, makes $45k a year. 

Who does Andrew Cuomo care about?  Who does the media, the powers at be and society at large care about?  Obvious, right?

If Andrew Cuomo can take from Person B and give to Person A, he will.  He worries about person A's property taxes, and bridge tolls, and wants to get his approval.  He doesn't care about Person B.  He takes her vote for granted and he realizes that she's been so beaten down by the system that she don't even care or pay attention.