Latest news with #SummerofHell
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Cuomo's bridge lights hit the auction block
ALBANY, New York — The saga of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo's bridge-lighting boondoggle is finally drawing to a close — and from a financial perspective, the end is shaping up to be dim. Cuomo, who's now running for New York City mayor, first signaled in 2016 that he would spend hundreds of millions of dollars to decorate the city's bridges in flashing lights as a way to boost tourism. A year later, subway delays plagued the city in what came to be known as the 'Summer of Hell,' prompting critics to question the wisdom of forcing the financially stressed Metropolitan Transportation Authority to spend an estimated $250 million on a decorative lighting project. Cuomo, though, did not give up on his 'Harbor of Lights' vision. All told, the state and the New York Power Authority spent at least $108 million on bringing it to life — all to no avail. Now, years later, the power authority is finally auctioning off the lights after POLITICO inquired about their fate. The minimum bid? $25. So far, there are no takers — a far cry from what Cuomo had hoped for nearly a decade ago. 'They'll all be synchronized, they can all be the same color, they can operate in series — I mean it is really limitless,' he said at the time. The Kosciuszko Bridge linking Brooklyn and Queens got the light show treatment — and a Mother's Day 2017 unveiling — that Cuomo heralded as the first stage of his grand plan. 'Harbor of Lights' was to be choreographed together, synced with other iconic city landmarks and set to a soundtrack, making for an 'international tourist attraction," Cuomo promised. The plan was shelved soon after, but the power authority had already spent $106 million, including on the lighting equipment and design costs. The authority was ultimately reimbursed by taxpayers. But it held onto the lights and equipment needed for the pet project — and that has come at an additional cost. The authority has paid $300,000 annually — at least $2.1 million — over more than 7 years to store the lights, according to power authority spokesperson Lindsay Kryzak. Days before Cuomo resigned as governor in 2021 due to sexual harassment allegations he denies, his spokesperson said the bridge lighting project would still move forward. That spokesperson, now working for Cuomo's mayoral campaign, declined to comment for this story. A government watchdog said Monday that the saga of the lights highlights a need for more oversight of the governor's office and state authorities. 'It's a complete fiasco,' said John Kaehny, executive director at Reinvent Albany. 'This is a case study in abuse of power and gaping holes in transparency and accountability.' Cuomo officials offered shifting explanations of how the bridge lights would be paid for as public scrutiny mounted. The MTA wouldn't be paying, a Cuomo spokesperson said, after the power authority's board had been told otherwise. At one point, the administration suggested the state's economic development agency would provide the funding. It wasn't unusual for Cuomo to focus on the aesthetics of infrastructure projects — he added millions of dollars in costs for blue and white tiling in tunnels. While governor, he also tapped the state power authority to support various projects, including the lighting and display screens at the Moynihan Train Hall. The power authority finances energy efficiency projects, and customers — public entities like the MTA — agree to reimburse the authority. But the bridge lights were such a large expense — without a clear path to reimbursement — that they prevented the authority from issuing long term debt for years. Then-power authority president and CEO Gil Quiniones told the governor's office at the time that the shortfall would have to be disclosed ahead of a planned bond issuance, according a person familiar with the situation who was granted anonymity to speak with POLITICO about sensitive details. To avoid that public disclosure, a deal was reached for the state to reimburse the authority. The last payment from the state was made in 2021, as POLITICO reported at the time. Most of the lighting equipment — which cost about $37 million, according to public records — has remained in storage since it was purchased in 2017. Power authority officials did not believe it could be sold since the state paid for it, according to the person who was granted anonymity. In 2021, a spokesperson for the authority said it would seek to use the lights for other projects. More recently, after POLITICO inquired about the fate of the bridge lights, the authority listed them for auction. 'As you know, we have tried to repurpose these lights,' power authority spokesperson Kryzak said in a statement. 'Despite these efforts to identify new uses across the State, demand was not what was expected, so the next logical step is to auction the lights." Kaehny recommended that voters take this 'escapade' into account when voting in the Democratic mayoral primary, where Cuomo is the leading candidate. 'He's not been held accountable in part because they were able to keep this a secret for so long,' Kaehny said. 'This is a great example of governance by whim and ego storm.'
Politico
10 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Politico
Cuomo's bridge lights hit the auction block
ALBANY, New York — The saga of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo's bridge-lighting boondoggle is finally drawing to a close — and from a financial perspective, the end is shaping up to be dim. Cuomo, who's now running for New York City mayor, first signaled in 2016 that he would spend hundreds of millions of dollars to decorate the city's bridges in flashing lights as a way to boost tourism. A year later, subway delays plagued the city in what came to be known as the 'Summer of Hell,' prompting critics to question the wisdom of forcing the financially stressed Metropolitan Transportation Authority to spend an estimated $250 million on a decorative lighting project. Cuomo, though, did not give up on his 'Harbor of Lights' vision. All told, the state and the New York Power Authority spent at least $108 million on bringing it to life — all to no avail. Now, years later, the power authority is finally auctioning off the lights after POLITICO inquired about their fate. The minimum bid? $25. So far, there are no takers — a far cry from what Cuomo had hoped for nearly a decade ago. 'They'll all be synchronized, they can all be the same color, they can operate in series — I mean it is really limitless,' he said at the time. The Kosciuszko Bridge linking Brooklyn and Queens got the light show treatment — and a Mother's Day 2017 unveiling — that Cuomo heralded as the first stage of his grand plan. 'Harbor of Lights' was to be choreographed together, synced with other iconic city landmarks and set to a soundtrack, making for an 'international tourist attraction,' Cuomo promised. The plan was shelved soon after, but the power authority had already spent $106 million, including on the lighting equipment and design costs. The authority was ultimately reimbursed by taxpayers. But it held onto the lights and equipment needed for the pet project — and that has come at an additional cost. The authority has paid $300,000 annually — at least $2.1 million — over more than 7 years to store the lights, according to power authority spokesperson Lindsay Kryzak. Days before Cuomo resigned as governor in 2021 due to sexual harassment allegations he denies, his spokesperson said the bridge lighting project would still move forward. That spokesperson, now working for Cuomo's mayoral campaign, declined to comment for this story. A government watchdog said Monday that the saga of the lights highlights a need for more oversight of the governor's office and state authorities. 'It's a complete fiasco,' said John Kaehny, executive director at Reinvent Albany. 'This is a case study in abuse of power and gaping holes in transparency and accountability.' Cuomo officials offered shifting explanations of how the bridge lights would be paid for as public scrutiny mounted. The MTA wouldn't be paying, a Cuomo spokesperson said, after the power authority's board had been told otherwise. At one point, the administration suggested the state's economic development agency would provide the funding. It wasn't unusual for Cuomo to focus on the aesthetics of infrastructure projects — he added millions of dollars in costs for blue and white tiling in tunnels. While governor, he also tapped the state power authority to support various projects, including the lighting and display screens at the Moynihan Train Hall. The power authority finances energy efficiency projects, and customers — public entities like the MTA — agree to reimburse the authority. But the bridge lights were such a large expense — without a clear path to reimbursement — that they prevented the authority from issuing long term debt for years. Then-power authority president and CEO Gil Quiniones told the governor's office at the time that the shortfall would have to be disclosed ahead of a planned bond issuance, according a person familiar with the situation who was granted anonymity to speak with POLITICO about sensitive details. To avoid that public disclosure, a deal was reached for the state to reimburse the authority. The last payment from the state was made in 2021, as POLITICO reported at the time. Most of the lighting equipment — which cost about $37 million, according to public records — has remained in storage since it was purchased in 2017. Power authority officials did not believe it could be sold since the state paid for it, according to the person who was granted anonymity. In 2021, a spokesperson for the authority said it would seek to use the lights for other projects. More recently, after POLITICO inquired about the fate of the bridge lights, the authority listed them for auction. 'As you know, we have tried to repurpose these lights,' power authority spokesperson Kryzak said in a statement. 'Despite these efforts to identify new uses across the State, demand was not what was expected, so the next logical step is to auction the lights.' Kaehny recommended that voters take this 'escapade' into account when voting in the Democratic mayoral primary, where Cuomo is the leading candidate. 'He's not been held accountable in part because they were able to keep this a secret for so long,' Kaehny said. 'This is a great example of governance by whim and ego storm.'
New York Post
27-05-2025
- Business
- New York Post
NYC ‘Train Daddy' Andy Byford joins Amtrak board to oversee Penn Station revamp
WASHINGTON — 'Train Daddy' is officially back. Former Transit President Andy Byford has formally joined Amtrak's Board of Directors to oversee the long-delayed revamp of Penn Station, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced Tuesday Byford resigned from his Big Apple role in February 2020 after butting heads with then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo — now the favorite to become the city's next mayor — and is currently serving as a senior vice president at Amtrak focusing on high-speed rail. 'Thanks to President Trump's leadership, America is building again,' Duffy said in a statement. 'We're thrilled to have Andy oversee the redevelopment and modernization of this vital transit hub.' 3 New York City's 'Train Daddy' Andy Byford has officially joined Amtrak's Board of Directors to oversee the long-delayed revamp of Penn Station, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced Tuesday. AFP via Getty Images 'Andy shares our dedication to keeping costs down and completing this project on time,' Duffy added. 'Together we'll work to deliver a brand-new Penn Station that is safe, clean, and worthy of the American people.' The $7 billion overhaul will involve a 'public-private partnership model' to renovate the crumbling infrastructure and add more rail capacity,' Duffy said last month. Trump had fired the MTA from overseeing the Penn Station revamp, begun in 2021 under Cuomo and continued by his successor as governor, Kathy Hochul. 3 Byford will now serve as a special adviser on Amtrak's board after having previously led public transit systems in Toronto, London and Sydney as well. Getty Images Cuomo had tapped Byford for the Transit role following massive subway delays during 2017's 'Summer of Hell.' Under the Englishman, NYC subways reached their highest on-time performance levels in six years. However, Byford complained that working under Cuomo was 'intolerable' and that he'd been 'excluded from meetings' critical to day-to-day operations. 3 Deputy Secretary Steven Bradbury in a statement Tuesday added that the Transportation Department looks forward to helping 'revitalize Penn Station as a spectacular, safe, and reliable passenger rail gateway.' James Keivom After leaving his New York job shortly before the onset of COVID-19, Byford was appointed commissioner of Transport for London in June 2020, resigning two years and three months later after overseeing the opening of the commuter-rapid transit hybrid Elizabeth Line, citing a desire to return to the US to be with his family. Hochul, who pulled more than $1 billion in state funding for the Penn Station project, welcomed news of Byford's return to New York City in a Friday statement expressing relief that the money pit was the feds' problem now. 'I'm very pleased to be working with the newly-appointed Andy Byford, who has a distinguished career in transit and infrastructure, and hope he is able to use these skills to deliver a beautiful, on-time, federally funded Penn Station renovation that New Yorkers can be proud of,' she said. Deputy Transportation Secretary Steven Bradbury added Tuesday that the Transportation Department looks forward to helping 'revitalize Penn Station as a spectacular, safe, and reliable passenger rail gateway.'
New York Times
29-04-2025
- Business
- New York Times
The M.T.A. Gets $68 Billion in the State Budget. What Will Riders Get?
A return of the Summer of Hell has been avoided. For now. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority will get $68.4 billion over the next five years as part of a state budget agreement — its largest ever capital plan — to prevent the subway, bus system and two commuter railroads from falling apart. But completion of all the projects in the budget, which was agreed to in Albany on Monday, is far from assured. The M.T.A. is counting on $14 billion of the plan from the Trump administration, which has threatened to withhold funding for transportation projects unless the state ends its congestion pricing program in Manhattan. And full details on how the state intends to pay for the plan — largely with an increased rate on an unpopular business tax — are not yet clear. Now, the onus is on the M.T.A., an agency long criticized for shaky finances, to prove its critics wrong and deliver its most ambitious plan in 45 years on time and on budget. Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Monday night that the State Legislature would 'fully fund' the $68.4 billion program, most of which is dedicated to repairing or updating long-neglected components of the New York City region's sprawling mass transit network. The list includes buying new trains and buses, replacing nearly century-old equipment and making the system more accessible for riders with disabilities and families with young children. The approval of the plan came as a relief to mass transit supporters, who had warned that failure to maintain critical infrastructure would lead to a repeat of the service meltdown seen in mid-2017, when dangerous overcrowding and long delays, mostly on the subway, led then Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to declare a state of emergency. Politicians and headline writers called it the 'Summer of Hell.' Here is what the plan means for commuters and the broader economy. What's in it for you? The five-year capital plan, which runs from 2025 to 2029, is chock-full of unglamorous improvements to reduce delays and enhance service reliability. More than 90 percent of the plan is dedicated to 'state of good repair' projects. Tom Wright, the president of the Regional Plan Association, an urban planning group, said funding these projects is vital at a time when post-pandemic ridership is rebounding. The subway has around 75 percent of its prepandemic weekday ridership, with more passengers returning. Without the investment, 'we would be running right into the teeth of more frequent failures,' he said, which would affect not only the 2.1 million riders who live near mass transit and regularly take it to work, but the broader regional economy that depends on that work force. Workers who rely on public transit to get to their jobs earn a quarter of all state wages and salaries, and their spending supports hundreds of thousands of other jobs, Mr. Wright said. The M.T.A. expects to spend $10.9 billion to buy roughly 2,000 new rail cars, an order that will include 1,500 subway cars and more than 500 for the Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road. Some of the train fleet has not been updated since at least 1980, the year of the M.T.A.'s first capital plan. Another $3.3 billion will buy and support 2,261 new buses. The plan includes $5.4 billion to modernize the subway signal system, which dates back to the Great Depression. Over the past 15 months, the antiquated system has led to an average of nearly 4,000 train delays a month, according to the M.T.A. About $7.8 billion will fix decrepit columns, stairs and other structures across transit stations, and add subway platform barriers — to deter falls and shovings onto the tracks — at 100 stations by the end of the year. About $7 billion will be used to make at least 60 more subway stations and six rail stations accessible to people with disabilities. Billions more will be spent to upgrade power substations, improve dozens of train repair shops and yards, and prevent the worst effects of climate change, by, for example, mitigating flooding along the Hudson River rail line. The new plan also paves the way for the long-awaited Interborough Express, or IBX, a 14-mile freight corridor that Gov. Hochul hopes will be repurposed to serve residents in parts of Brooklyn and Queens. A smaller line item in the budget is a reminder of a different challenge for the transit authority. The M.T.A. will spend $1.1 billion to install modern fare gates at 150 stations to prevent fare evasion. Fare evasion peaked in the spring of 2024, with 14 percent of subway riders and nearly half of bus riders failing to pay. The M.T.A. said it lost close to $800 million in fare and toll evasion last year. Fare and toll revenue makes up almost 40 percent of the M.T.A.'s $20 billion annual operating budget, a pool of money separate from the capital plan that pays for day-to-day expenses like labor and utilities. The operating budget also covers the cost of financing many agency projects, an expense that could balloon if mismanaged. The M.T.A. has recently reported progress on reducing fare evasion on trains and buses, and plans to install harder-to-bypass fare gates at 20 stations in 2025 and at another 20 the following year. That is in addition to a range of other strategies, including hiring guards to watch turnstiles, adding fare-enforcement teams at bus stops and maintaining increased police presence throughout the subway. The challenges ahead The budget is 'incredibly short on details,' especially as it pertains to the M.T.A., said Ana Champeny, the vice president for research at the Citizens Budget Commission, a civic watchdog group. One of the biggest concerns, she said, is whether the Trump administration will contribute the $14 billion that the M.T.A. has factored into its calculations. Sean Duffy, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, has threatened to withhold approvals and funding for transportation projects in the state if Ms. Hochul does not kill New York City's congestion pricing toll program by May 21. President Trump has vowed to end congestion pricing, claiming, without evidence, that it is harmful to the local economy. Such an intervention could force the Legislature to revisit the budget later this year, leaving the M.T.A. with few options. 'You either have to spend less, or go back to the same pots of money,' Ms. Champeny said. A payroll tax is one of those funding sources that officials have leaned on. Much of the capital plan, about $30 billion, will be paid for with an increase to the payroll mobility tax, an unpopular levy on businesses in New York City and surrounding counties that use mass transit. Companies with a payroll of over $10 million will shoulder a higher rate while the tax on smaller businesses will stay the same or decrease. The payroll tax was last increased for New York City businesses just two years ago to raise funding for the M.T.A., and there would most likely be limited political will to raise it again. The increased scrutiny from Washington has, in at least one instance, helped ease the M.T.A.'s budget needs. About $1.2 billion that would have been used for the reconstruction of Pennsylvania Station will instead be applied to other transit projects, now that the Trump administration has declared it will take over the transit hub's renovation. Ms. Hochul is also expecting the M.T.A. to come up with $3 billion in 'savings' to fund the capital plan, which would require the authority to find up to $150 million in annual recurring savings and borrow against it in the bond market. In a statement, Avi Small, a spokesman for the governor, said Ms. Hochul 'has shown she'll go toe-to-toe with Donald Trump to fight for every possible dollar of transit funding,' adding that it is up to Republican members of New York's congressional delegation to fight for their constituents who rely on the M.T.A. A spokesman for the M.T.A. did not respond to questions about the budget, but said the plan is expected to be discussed at a board meeting on Wednesday.
New York Times
26-03-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Congestion Pricing Is at Risk. So Is the M.T.A.'s $68 Billion Plan.
While federal officials are clashing with New York over congestion pricing, the tolling program that President Trump has vowed to kill, there is another transit fight underway between Albany and Washington. The $68 billion capital plan, a five-year budget proposal that includes a slew of critical upgrades for the subway, buses and commuter railroads, is the biggest such request the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has ever made. The plan, which would run from 2025 to 2029, comes as the Trump administration is not only trying to kill the toll but is also threatening to defund an untold number of other transit priorities. So far, the M.T.A. has identified funding for only about half of the plan and is expecting the federal government to contribute $14 billion, a sum that was optimistic even before its tolling dispute with Washington, budget analysts said. The state is relying on congestion pricing to fund transit upgrades that were part of the last five-year capital plan, and its termination could throw the new budget into disarray, as overdue projects pile up. The capital plan is separate from the M.T.A.'s annual operating budget, which largely pays for expenses like worker salaries, energy expenses and some financing costs and is partly funded by fare revenue. At stake is a long list of repairs and improvements to New York City's aging transit system that, if put off any longer, could plunge New York into another 'Summer of Hell' — the notorious series of power outages, track fires and delays in 2017 that infuriated riders — Janno Lieber, the head of the transit authority, said. 'We have to invest in the system to protect the riders,' Mr. Lieber said in an interview Tuesday in Albany. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
