Governor Cuomo's annual State of the State address is expected Wednesday, and it usually sets the agenda for the upcoming legislative year in Albany. Ahead of that, the governor unveiled an ambitious plan to increase train capacity by expanding Penn Station.
"It would be a 40% increase on the size of Penn. It would add about eight tracks, about a 40% increase in the number of tracks," Cuomo said.
The plan comes as lawmakers await details on a new a congestion pricing plan that will soon charge driver's a fee to enter Manhattan. The idea was to push commuters toward rail and away from their cars, which is why more capacity at Penn Station is needed.
"People who work in the city have the longest commute in the country,” said Kathy Wylde, the president and CEO of the nonprofit Partnership for New York City. “Forty-two minutes each way, on average. We need much better transportation."
The Governor also made comments on bail reform that seemed to signal a new direction when lawmakers go back into session this week.
Starting this month, cash bail was eliminated for a long list of crimes. But in recent days, concern about whether the law is too broad has prompted some lawmakers in Cuomo's own party to push to amend the reforms, something the Governor now seems open to.
"Changing the system, which we started to do, is complicated, and then has a number of ramifications,” Cuomo said. “There is no doubt this is still a work in progress. And there are other changes that have to be made."
Meanwhile, after Cuomo left the event, he may have gotten his biggest headlines of the day.
His staff provided this video of Cuomo and his motorcade coming upon an accident on the Brooklyn-Queens expressway.
Cuomo jumps out of the car and helps pull the driver of an overturned vehicle to safety.
Cuomo has been known in the past to post photos of himself towing cars on the thruway that get stuck in the snow.
There are still a couple of major details missing from this proposal from the governor. Number one: a total price tag, which we still do not have; and number two: some of the businesses south of Penn Station may need to be seized through eminent domain in order to expand the Penn Station footprint. And while that is possible, it's not necessarily easy.