4 ms·

> Here in NYC we've been living off the investments of past generations for a long time, not even maintaining it adequately. That's a recent development. The M

> Here in NYC we've been living off the investments of past generations for a long time, not even maintaining it adequately. That's a recent development. The MTA hit its peak of reliability and performance about a decade ago. Since 2010, which coincidentally is the exact time that Cuomo took office, things have plummeted.

mannykannot 8y ago
It actually was a coincidence, as the practices leading inevitably to the current situation have been going on for decades.
- chimeracoder 8y ago
  > It actually was a coincidence, as the practices leading inevitably to the current situation have been going on for decades. It's true that the corruption within the MTA and TWU have been around for decades, but it's not true at all that it's a coincidence that everything started to go downhill as soon as Cuomo took office. Cuomo literally does not believe that it is his job to oversee a statewide agency, despite the fact that every other governor - including his own father, when his father was governor - have taken on this responsibility. Unsurprisingly, when the public official in charge absolves themselves of responsibility for holding the MTA and TWU accountable, things fall apart pretty quickly.
  - stochastic_monk 8y ago
    There’s a reason Cynthia Nixon’s campaign emphasized the subway: Cuomo was uninterested in maintaining it, aside from scant, hollow PR moments.
    - chimeracoder 8y ago
      > Cuomo was uninterested in maintaining it, aside from scant, hollow PR moments. Cuomo even deigned to make hollow PR statements about the subway to the press? I must have missed those. I'm being flippant, but not without reason: Cuomo has taken the subway exactly twice in the last decade, went out of his way not to take public transit when running for re-election (lest it be interpreted as him admitting responsibility for the system), and undermined Andy Byford at the one job he ostensibly hired him to do in the first place. It's not that Cuomo is all talk and no action. When it comes to public transit, he isn't even "talk". He's just completely absentee, and downright proud of it.
ataturk 8y ago
The Cuomo family are pieces of shit, always were. I can't believe NY has made the same mistake twice! Absolute corrupt pieces of shit. Americans need to fix this political mess and start electing smart people who aren't in someone else's pocket. The corruption in NY and the whole east coast is rampant! And it's bad everywhere mind you, but NY absolutely is the epicenter of it.
raiflip 8y ago
eh it's flashier and more fun to build something new than maintain something old. Not to mention people forget that building new stuff means needing to allocate budget to maintain it...
- chimeracoder 8y ago
  > eh it's flashier and more fun to build something new than maintain something old. Not to mention people forget that building new stuff means needing to allocate budget to maintain it... This statement may be true, but it's completely irrelevant to the specific problems facing the NYC transit system at the moment.
  - raiflip 8y ago
    At least from what I've read, the primary problem have been a lack of financing for maintaining the current system. The subway does need to move to a more advanced signaling system, but there's no reason why the old-fashioned signaling system has to be falling apart.
    - chimeracoder 8y ago
      > At least from what I've read, the primary problem have been a lack of financing for maintaining the current system. The subway does need to move to a more advanced signaling system, but there's no reason why the old-fashioned signaling system has to be falling apart. Since 2010, Cuomo has raided the coffers in order to fund his own personal projects (like an upstate ski resort), yes. But it's not just a matter of funding: due to corruption and a complete lack of oversight, costs are out of control because the MTA and TWU, as well as private contractors, are able to siphon off absurd amounts of money by inflating costs or even committing outright fraud: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/28/nyregion/new-york-subway-construction-costs.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/28/nyregion/new-york-subway-...
- jacobmoe 8y ago
  True, but people also forget that new infrastructure, when well timed, can accelerate growth and expand the base. New York should know that more than any place. How do we know when to invest in infrastructure? I'd say that the affordable housing and transportation crises we're facing in US cities is the economy screaming at us to build.

mannykannot 8y ago

It actually was a coincidence, as the practices leading inevitably to the current situation have been going on for decades.

chimeracoder 8y ago
> It actually was a coincidence, as the practices leading inevitably to the current situation have been going on for decades. It's true that the corruption within the MTA and TWU have been around for decades, but it's not true at all that it's a coincidence that everything started to go downhill as soon as Cuomo took office. Cuomo literally does not believe that it is his job to oversee a statewide agency, despite the fact that every other governor - including his own father, when his father was governor - have taken on this responsibility. Unsurprisingly, when the public official in charge absolves themselves of responsibility for holding the MTA and TWU accountable, things fall apart pretty quickly.
- stochastic_monk 8y ago
  There’s a reason Cynthia Nixon’s campaign emphasized the subway: Cuomo was uninterested in maintaining it, aside from scant, hollow PR moments.
  - chimeracoder 8y ago
    > Cuomo was uninterested in maintaining it, aside from scant, hollow PR moments. Cuomo even deigned to make hollow PR statements about the subway to the press? I must have missed those. I'm being flippant, but not without reason: Cuomo has taken the subway exactly twice in the last decade, went out of his way not to take public transit when running for re-election (lest it be interpreted as him admitting responsibility for the system), and undermined Andy Byford at the one job he ostensibly hired him to do in the first place. It's not that Cuomo is all talk and no action. When it comes to public transit, he isn't even "talk". He's just completely absentee, and downright proud of it.

ataturk 8y ago

The Cuomo family are pieces of shit, always were. I can't believe NY has made the same mistake twice! Absolute corrupt pieces of shit. Americans need to fix this political mess and start electing smart people who aren't in someone else's pocket. The corruption in NY and the whole east coast is rampant! And it's bad everywhere mind you, but NY absolutely is the epicenter of it.

raiflip 8y ago

eh it's flashier and more fun to build something new than maintain something old. Not to mention people forget that building new stuff means needing to allocate budget to maintain it...

chimeracoder 8y ago
> eh it's flashier and more fun to build something new than maintain something old. Not to mention people forget that building new stuff means needing to allocate budget to maintain it... This statement may be true, but it's completely irrelevant to the specific problems facing the NYC transit system at the moment.
- raiflip 8y ago
  At least from what I've read, the primary problem have been a lack of financing for maintaining the current system. The subway does need to move to a more advanced signaling system, but there's no reason why the old-fashioned signaling system has to be falling apart.
  - chimeracoder 8y ago
    > At least from what I've read, the primary problem have been a lack of financing for maintaining the current system. The subway does need to move to a more advanced signaling system, but there's no reason why the old-fashioned signaling system has to be falling apart. Since 2010, Cuomo has raided the coffers in order to fund his own personal projects (like an upstate ski resort), yes. But it's not just a matter of funding: due to corruption and a complete lack of oversight, costs are out of control because the MTA and TWU, as well as private contractors, are able to siphon off absurd amounts of money by inflating costs or even committing outright fraud: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/28/nyregion/new-york-subway-construction-costs.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/28/nyregion/new-york-subway-...
jacobmoe 8y ago
True, but people also forget that new infrastructure, when well timed, can accelerate growth and expand the base. New York should know that more than any place. How do we know when to invest in infrastructure? I'd say that the affordable housing and transportation crises we're facing in US cities is the economy screaming at us to build.