Lho backs Cuo, rips Blas in track-&-forth
The city is wholly responsible for the capital plan. MTA Chairman Joe Lhota (right) on Monday
The de Blasio administration continued to attack Gov. Cuomo and the MTA on Monday, blaming mismanagement and waste for the agency’s woes — prompting a blistering response from MTA boss Joe Lhota.
“Riders have every right to be frustrated,” Mayor de Blasio’s office said in a press release that included a vague, five-point list of “items that New Yorkers deserve to see in a credible subway turnaround plan.”
City Hall said the agency needs to provide, among other things, “public performance goals and standards” and “an efficient and fair MTA budget and a reallocation of resources towards core needs.”
It specifically suggested nixing Cuomo’s pet project — light shows on bridges — to save money.
But Lhota, a Cuomo appointee who lost to de Blasio in the 2013 mayoral race, dismissed the swipes as mere “political posturing,’’ adding that things “are getting silly.”
“The mayor has continually taken the position that the New York City subway system is not his problem . . . The city is wholly responsible for the capital plan and has only contributed one-third of what the state contributed,’’ Lhota said.
The back-and-forth bickering comes amid seemingly constant derailments and “Summer of Hell” delays at Penn Station.
Adding fuel to the fire, First Dep- uty Mayor Anthony Shorris arranged a conference call with reporters Monday, insisting the state has the funding it needs to fix the MTA’s aging infrastructure.
There’s “about $2 billion available to fund the MTA through state money,’’ Shorris said. “We have a long way to go before anybody has to start reaching into taxpayers’ pockets.
“Accountability is about where the buck stops. We’re not the operators — [but] clearly, we see the re- sults,’’ he said. “It’s not an issue of more money right now. It’s an issue of management of the system.”
Lhota retorted, “The mayor yesterday said . . . he’s given us $2.5 billion and we should spend it. He’s given a commitment of $2.5 [billion]. It’s a lot of work to present them with the bill and they have to approve it.”
The MTA is expected to soon release a 30-day review of the entire transit system, ordered last month by Lhota on the same day Cuomo declared a state of emergency for the agency.
John Samuelsen, president of Transport Workers Union Local 100, chided de Blasio on WNYC’s “The Brian Lehrer Show” on Monday.
“These are his constituents that ride the subway back and forth to work every day. He simply can’t throw his hands up and credibly say he has no role here. He certainly does,’’ Samuelson said.
Mayor de Blasio takes the cake on photo ops. He rode the subway on a Sunday, when it was much less crowded than usual, and had the stations cleared of any undesirables who might ruin the picture (“Blas Bums’ Rush,” July 24).
This guy is as phony as a $3 bill, but he isn’t fooling anyone. My guess is he had to get a lesson on how to use the MetroCard so he didn’t look foolish like Hillary Clinton, who couldn’t figure out how to swipe at a turnstile.
The sad part is that after running up millions in legal bills while in office and reversing the great things that Rudy Giuliani and Mike Bloomberg did for this city, Mayor Big Bird will probably get a second term.
He should be cleared from Gracie Mansion, the way he had the subways cleared of homeless people. Cronin Miller Brooklyn
De Blasio’s cheap publicity stunt on the subway doesn’t fool any New Yorker.
His train was probably the only one to arrive on schedule. I’m sure the air conditioning was work- ing, and that there were no delays.
The photos show him in a subway car with a lot of room to accommodate him, his staff and reporters with cameras and boom mics. It was so unrealistic.
That’s why the current mayor will soon be spoken of in the past tense. November will be here quicker than he thinks. James League Queens
De Blasio’s subway publicity stunt is exactly why Donald Trump is president today.
The deplorable little people have had enough lectures from arrogant limousine liberals like de Blasio with their “do as I say, not as I do” attitude.
Why the people of New York would even consider re-electing this clown is beyond comprehension. Joe Alloy Wayne, NJ
It’s no surprise that the mayor’s subway route was cleared of the homeless to shield him from the truth.
His recent one-week borough appearances took on the same visual cleanup. When his entourage came to Queens Borough Hall, every trash can, normally brimming over, was emptied; the homeless fellow in the next-door park disappeared for the week; and the cemetery perimeter, which was a trash dumping ground, was pristine.
Within a week, this will revert back to the mess it was before his visit.
That’s the bubble our mayor and his commissioners live in. Thanks to The Post for breaking that bubble and speaking truth to power. Phil Serpico, Queens