MTA: What, me hurry?
GOV. CUOMO called on President Trump Sunday to provide emergency funding to remedy the “intolerable” situation at Penn Station that will soon create “a summer of agony.”
The plea came after executives from Amtrak, which has operational control over the Midtown rail hub, announced earlier this month they would shut down train tracks for about six weeks in July and August to repair long-neglected infrastructure.
That means the 600,000 passengers who pass through the station each day will face a nightmarish 20% reduction in service during peak hours, Cuomo said.
“Amtrak’s need to cut service this summer has created both a shortterm crisis and dramatically exposed the system’s chronic problems,” Cuomo wrote in a letter to Trump.
“While this is not a hurricane or flood, it will affect as many people and businesses with dire consequences. Like a natural disaster, we didn’t create it, but our public offices require we address it. As in most emergencies, this is not a political issue, and bipartisan officials will agree that we need immediate help . . . . This situation affects the entire Northeast region.”
It’s not just Long Island Rail Road, Amtrak and NJ Transit commuters who face a nightmare scenario. The delays at Penn Station will also affect the already-overwhelmed subway system, regional transit and more, Cuomo said.
The governor, according to an aide, wrote to Trump because the President is finalizing a budget plan and has previously said spending on infrastructure is a priority. Cuomo “went to the top” because of the immediacy of the summer work, the aide said.
Cuomo asked Trump to lend his support to forcing Amtrak — a quasi-federal entity — to turn over control of Penn Station to a private terminal operator.
He also requested federal funding for the state’s ongoing construction of a new entrance to Penn Station from the Farley Post Office. Money is needed for a “long-term resolution for Penn Station,” as well as investment in alternative modes of transportation, Cuomo said.
He urged Trump to expedite federal funding for the Gateway Tunnel, which will replace the aging tubes between New York and New Jersey damaged during Hurricane Sandy.
“We are glad to see Gov. Cuomo join our longstanding call for increased funding for Penn Station, the Northeast Corridor and the Gateway Program,” Amtrak spokeswoman Christina Leeds said in a statement.
“We agree that the heart of the problem is years of under-investment and the overloading of an infrastructure and station designed to meet the needs of last century, not this one.”
The scale of the Penn Station problem requires all levels of government be involved, Cuomo wrote in his letter to Trump. Local governments in the city and surrounding counties needed to be ready to contribute to the effort, the governor said, adding he will call on the MTA to accelerate its capital plan to improve mass transit.
Trump’s campaign pledge to pump $1 trillion into U.S. infrastructure to create jobs makes the funding surge a no-brainer, Cuomo said, appealing to the President’s roots in New York.
“As a New Yorker, I think you know the severity of the situation, and you know that if the state has the financial and operating support, we will get the job done,” Cuomo wrote.
State Sen. Todd Kaminsky, a Democrat who represents parts of Nassau County, agreed.
“I talk with commuters every day, many of whom have taken the LIRR for decades, and they have never experienced this level of dysfunction,” Kaminsky said.