NEW YORK CITY — As New York’s commuters are having their journeys ruined by a “summer of hell” plaguing the city’s transport system, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill De Blasio are squabbling over Cuomo’s proposal to line bridges with multi colored lights.
Cuomo announced the scheme in October, whereby the region’s bridges would be lined with LED lights and provide light shows along with the city’s skyscrapers. Politico reported that the project is slated to cost around $216 million, but could also be as high as $350 million.
“So, literally, you’ll have bridges all across the New York City area that are choreographed — nothing like this has been done on the planet,” Cuomo said in January.
The Democrat even released a video touting the plan in October, with music from Alicia Keys’ “Empire State of Mind” showing glitzy bridges lit up for Gay Pride and Breast Cancer Awareness.
The video now looks politically clunky, to say the least, as an underfunded transport system wrecks commuters’ days while tracks catch fire — meaning the city doesn’t always feel like “a concrete jungle where dreams are made of.”
Now, as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is dogged with problems, with massive subway delays, track fires, and subway carriages held together by zip ties, the topic is becoming a political issue once again.
This week a track fire on 145th street sparked delays across multiple subway lines, with pictures of commuters stuck on subway stations plastered all over the front pages of local newspapers. Cuomo has declared a state of emergency for the transit system and has promised $1 billion in extra funding.
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Cuomo and de Blasio have both taken big hits in the polls as they seek to blame each other, with Cuomo’s approval rating plummeting 19 points, according to a poll published Tuesday.
Politico, noting Cuomo’s “predilection for the aesthetic over the merely functional” reported that Cuomo believes the disco bridge project would be “a power-saving environmental initiative and a stunning visual display that would attract tourists from around the globe.” Cuomo’s office has claimed that the MTA would not be paying for it.
But Mayor de Blasio has apparently smelled blood in the water and took a shot at his fellow Democrat Wednesday.
“I can tell you that people that ride the subways are not interested in a light show,” de Blasio said at a press conference, according to the New York Daily News. “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 Daily News reported that de Blasio said that while he approves of other quality of life upgrades from Cuomo, such as wireless internet on the subway, he believes the basics need to be taken care of first.
“I never want to take away from efforts to improve the quality of life once you’re on a subway, but much more important is: Does that subway ever show up? And does that train ever come? And does it get you where you want to go?” he said. “I would say those are good things, but they’re not the priority.”
While de Blasio has frequently noted that Cuomo’s office runs the MTA and so it’s the state’s responsibility, Cuomo’s office has repeatedly pushed back and blamed de Blasio.
“The mayor should also read the law,” a spokesman told the Daily News. “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.”
Adam Shaw is a Breitbart News politics reporter based in New York. Follow Adam on Twitter: @AdamShawNY
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