Governor Cuomo toured a subway repair shop this morning in upper Manhattan. He is promoting his emergency subway action plan, which is now fully funded. The Governor is facing a primary challenge from Actor Cynthia Nixon who has made the MTA and the subways a campaign issue. State House Reporter Zack Fink has the story.
On Friday, Governor Cuomo paid a visit to what is known as the subway car overhaul facility in Manhattan.
This is where the cars that come out of services get fixed, in order to get back out on the tracks. The Governor says this place will move into overdrive now that the City has agreed to pay one-half of the "subway action plan," an $800 million shot in the arm for the ailing subway system.
"So you will take a facility like this, will now be running 24 hours a day 7 days a week," the Governor said. "And you will increase the output of this facility, which is repairing cars."
But the press conference quickly turned political, when the head of the subway workers union, John Samuelson, an ally of the Governor's, was asked about these ads his union has been running, attacking Mayor Bill de Blasio.
"The fact of the matter is the Mayor abrogated his responsibilities to the riders of the New York City subway system last summer by pointing fingers, this way, that way, playing politics," said TWU President John Samuelson. "While riders of the subway system struggled and that was disgraceful."
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Mayor responded: "The Governor is using transportation workers' money to campaign for another four years of running the subways. We’ll let the public decide how well that’s been working."
Samuelson later tweeted back at the Mayor, calling him a "phony."
Later in the day, it was Governor who engaged in politics — holding a rally in the Bronx for Luis Sepulveda, a Democrat who is running for an open State Senate seat.
The Governor is going full gear in politics, hosting a rally for Democrats on Long Island this weekend, and next week he is scheduled to raise money for the former members of the IDC who recently dissolved their breakaway conference and agreed to join the mainline Democrats in the State Senate.