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Cuomo/NY state spending over $200M on fancy bridge lights as the NY subway crumbles

G

GK86

Homeland Security Fail
Fix the fucking subway, you asshat.

With the subway system crippled by delays and fires, the state plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on adding razzle-dazzle, choreographed light shows to Metropolitan Transportation Authority bridges.
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”I can tell you that people that ride the subways are not interested in a light show," de Blasio said. ”They're interested in getting the trains to run on time and they're interested in being able to get to work, and that's what we should focus the resources on going forward."

The program to outfit the bridges with LED lights is slated to cost about $216 million, according to the minutes of a New York Power Authority meeting held in March. That expense comes as commuters have begged Cuomo to steer more of the state-run MTA's money toward city subways, with chronic delays wrecking commutes and endangering employment.

With the subway system crippled by delays and fires, the state plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on adding razzle-dazzle, choreographed light shows to Metropolitan Transportation Authority bridges.
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Cuomo spokeswoman Dani Lever said, ”The mayor should know the facts before speaking. The MTA will not pay for the Harbor of Lights proposal — period."

”It is an economic development and energy-efficiency proposal that would be paid for by" the Empire State Development and the New York Power Authority.

That's not the impression the power authority was under in March — its meeting minutes indicate the cost would be picked up or recovered by the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, an arm of the MTA. A spokeswoman for the power agency said those discussions were premature.
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Whether the money comes directly from the MTA or not, it will come from the state, which controls the MTA. The state has argued it will spur economic development by drawing tourists who will be enamored by the LED lights, which can be set to music played by local radio stations, while they take in the city skyline. Officials also said they're more energy efficient and will wind up saving money.
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De Blasio has repeatedly emphasized that the state runs the MTA and pushed back at the notion that the city should pony up more cash.

Cuomo's office countered the city ”owns" the subways — referring to the technicalities of how the system is leased to the MTA, which operates it.

”The mayor should also read the law," Lever said. ”New York City owns the subway and is solely responsible for funding its capital plan. Most people would call that control, and if he cares about commuters he should put his money where his mouth is."
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State officials note a similar program on the Bay Bridge in San Francisco, which officials there told the press could boost the local economy by $97 million over two years. The banks alongside the Bay Bridge feature upscale eateries with bridge views. The banks alongside the Kosciuszko, which crosses Newtown Creek, feature a waste transfer station and National Grid energy facility.
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P

Pein

Banned
Doesn't sound like the MTA is gonna be paying for this so I have no problem with them trying to pretty up the city.
 
M

Mammoth Jones

Member
I fucking loathe the MTA. I give those fuckers hundreds of dollars each God Damn month for the privilege of trying to get to work on time.

Fuck a light show. Dump that money into fixing the rails.

Pein said:
Doesn't sound like the MTA is gonna be paying for this so I have no problem with them trying to pretty up the city.
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I do. Fuck that. MTA or not it's a waste of money at a time of crumbling infrastructure. Wherever the money comes from don't waste it on lights. That's like putting Christmas lights up while the garage is on fire. Let's handle one thing at a time.
 
G

GK86

Homeland Security Fail
Pein said:
Doesn't sound like the MTA is gonna be paying for this so I have no problem with them trying to pretty up the city.
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Umm:

That’s not the impression the power authority was under in March — its meeting minutes indicate the cost would be picked up or recovered by the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, an arm of the MTA. A spokeswoman for the power agency said those discussions were premature.
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Link.

According to watchdog group Reinvent Albany, around $40 million from the transit authority has already gone toward LED infrastructure and decorative towers. That money, Cuomo spokesman Jon Weinstein tells Gothamist, came from former capital programs and post-Sandy relief money.

"The MTA is definitively not paying for the Harbor of Lights," Weinstein added. "We are considering options, but as it is a project to generate tourism and economic development, and uses technology for energy efficiency, it will be financed by NYPA and parts of the project could likely be funded by ESD (Empire State Development)."

That response conflicts with Politico's sources in the NYPA, and does not square with the governor's early comments about how the "transformational plan to reimagine New York's bridges and tunnels" would be paid for.

In October of this year, the governor casually mentioned that both LED lighting and cashless tolling initiatives—estimated cost: $500 million—would be funded with money that [then-MTA chairman] "Tom Prendergast has in his back pocket." That pocket money, the Village Voice reports, actually comes from the MTA's $29.5 billion capital plan, which goes toward, among other things, desperately-needed signal repairs for the subway. Of the 14 signal updates or repairs scheduled to begin this year, eight are currently delayed, and only one is expected to be completed before 2018, according to a report issued last month by the Independent Budget Office.
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L

LegoDad

Member
Except that 200 million would do nothing for the subway. State and city agencies have to spend the money in that year, it is very hard to roll money over from one year to the next. Yes I know it looks bad but that money will be used somewhere else if not on lights.

If it's MTA money, then it's private and a waste of money.
 
M

Mammoth Jones

Member
caliblue15 said:
Except that 200 million would do nothing for the subway. State and city agencies have to spend the money in that year, it is very hard to roll money over from one year to the next. Yes I know it looks bad but that money will be used somewhere else if not on lights.
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This is always the excuse and I don't buy it. They can make it happen. Fucking donate it to the MTA's budget. Something. Shit is really fucking bad. My commute has been atrocious the last few months.
 
P

Pein

Banned
Mammoth Jones said:
I fucking loathe the MTA. I give those fuckers hundreds of dollars each God Damn month for the privilege of trying to get to work on time.

Fuck a light show. Dump that money into fixing the rails.



I do. Fuck that. MTA or not it's a waste of money at a time of crumbling infrastructure. Wherever the money comes from don't waste it on lights. That's like putting Christmas lights up while the garage is on fire. Let's handle one thing at a time.
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Yeah I guess so but nyc is a bumbling fucking mess with infrastructure I hate the roads, filled with so much fucking potholes and then they take forever to repave one fucking street it's goddamn ridiculous. Our infrastructure is fucked and the mta and who ever else need to get their shit on lock because it's not like they don't have funds to fix things.
 
W

Wowfunhappy

Member
Subways need work, but lights are pretty.

Might sound dumb but I can't be too upset over pretty bridge lights. They had better look cool though.
 
I

Inuhanyou

Believes Dragon Quest is a franchise managed by Sony
Not surprised in the least, considering the priorities of many of these politicians in general
 
G

Gallbaro

Banned
Cuomo is the Democratic Trump.

Don't forget that Cuomo have the TWU everything they asked for last negotiation round.

Everything they asked for.
 
D

_dazed

Member
New York City should secede from NY State. Maybe then their subway system would get the priority they want.
 
H

hollomat

Banned
What a waste of money. Absolutely no one commuting could care less about lights on the bridge. In fact I'm sure most of them are actually oppose to this since installing the lights will mean delays on the bridge. That money could be better spent literally anywhere else.

Cuomo doesn't understand the needs of NYC at all.
 
W

Wrestlemania

Banned
Not saying they should be the priority, but LED lights will be hugely cheaper for both energy costs and lifetime maintenance costs, so they're going to see a return on that investment pretty quickly.
Being able to do flashy light shows is just a bonus.
 
V

Valtýr

Member
From what I've read in the past, government budget doesn't work in a "this instead of that" kind of deal. What is budgeted for one project doesn't meant they're taking money from something else. It's bad optics no doubt.
 
G

Gallbaro

Banned
Valtýr;243984588 said:
From what I've read in the past, government budget doesn't work in a "this instead of that" kind of deal. What is budgeted for one project doesn't meant they're taking money from something else. It's bad optics no doubt.
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Cuomo has moved plenty of monies out of MTA and into other agencies in the past to cover those shortfalls.

The ass is obsessed with glory projects regardless of cost. See the Cuomo bridge (official name).
 
K

Kill3r7

Member
Why are NY and NJ so opposed to improving infrastructure in a meaningful way? I know it is not politically sexy but when the shit hits the fan, and it will, it won't be pleasant for any of us. The fucken Subway system and NJTRANSIT are falling apart and all anyone wants to do is talk. More than half of my team can't get to work on time because of daily transit issues.
 
D

Draxal

Member
Kill3r7 said:
Why are NY and NJ so opposed to improving infrastructure in a meaningful way? I know it is not politically sexy but when the shit hits the fan, and it will, it won't be pleasant for any of us. The fucken Subway system and NJTRANSIT are falling apart and all anyone wants to do is talk. More than half of my team can't get to work on time because of daily transit issues.
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1. Because labor is expensive.
2. They don't want to deal with the optics of downtime.
 
B

br3wnor

Member
entremet said:
I wish NYC could divorce itself from the state honestly.
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NYC provides roughly half of the State’s revenue. It also pumps in billions more into state revenue than it gets back. Count the surrounding suburbs and it’s even more imbalanced.

This is a really dumb position to take.

As for Cuomo, not that he had a shot in 2020 anyway, but this subway mess is going to be the nail in the coffin.
 
entremet

entremet

Member
br3wnor said:
NYC provides almost half of the State’s revenue. It also pumps in billions more into state revenue than it gets back. Count the surrounding suburbs and it’s even more imbalanced.

This is a really dumb position to take.
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You're proving my point lol.
 
B

br3wnor

Member
entremet said:
You're proving my point lol.
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Ohhhhh, my bad lol. I’m so used to the argument upstate NYer’s market that NYC is such a burden and we don’t need them ‘damn liberals’ that I automatically assumed that’s what you were getting at. I’m from upstate but now live on Long Island so I run into a lot of this thinking w/ family/old friends.
 
P

Pyrokai

Member
NYC survives on the subway. They need to fix it and the state needs to support that. Why the hell is this even an issue for NY? It's a net positive for both parties to fix it.
 
entremet

entremet

Member
br3wnor said:
Ohhhhh, my bad lol. I’m so used to the argument upstate NYer’s market that NYC is such a burden and we don’t need them ‘damn liberals’ that I automatically assumed that’s what you were getting at. I’m from upstate but now live on Long Island so I run into a lot of this thinking w/ family/old friends.
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I don’t mind being part of the state, but the state rarely reinvests back proportionally into the city.

Look at this asswipe Cuomo.
 
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