City Hall on Monday detailed what it says must be included in the governor's plan to turn around the ailing subway system, and the mayor ratched up his feud with the governor. NY1's Jose Martinez filed the following report.
Mayor Bill de Blasio pulled no punches on Monday, intensifying his battle with Governor Andrew Cuomo over who's responsible for financing the badly needed overhaul of the troubled transit system.
"No governor has ever attempted to put forward the fiction we're now hearing from this governor of suddenly the city being responsible for something it's never been responsible for before," de Blasio said.
The MTA's new chairman, Joe Lhota, has vowed to issue a turnaround plan this week, possibly as soon as Tuesday.
But on Monday, de Blasio and his team laid down a marker, with a list of demands of what the MTA must do.
The MTA, City Hall said, must provide immediate relief for riders and reallocate spending toward core needs.
And that's not all.
"Set high standards, report on performance, use your dollars wisely, hold folks accountable. That's what we want to see in the plan that's coming up," said First Deputy Mayor Anthony Shorris.
City Hall said the MTA must regularly provide reports on how it's meeting its goals, a system simliar to the NYPD's monthly Compstat reports on crime trends.
The administration threatened to withhold operating funds to the troubled transit agency unless progress is made.
"I don't have faith iun their current plans, and I don't have faith in any new plan until I see the actual changes and see the money to go with them," de Blasio said. "In the meantime, we should up the ante. We should create the pressure."
The mayor's latest mass-transit maneuevering drew a furious response from Lhota, who accused City Hall of engaging in political posturing and silly photo ops.
Lhota said, "The Mayor has continually taken the position that the New York City subway system is not his problem. What we need right now is for leaders to step up and work together, not hastily thrown together press releases drafted to score cheap political points."
Riders NY1 spoke with say they don't care whose system it is. They only want better service.
"I think it’s disgusting that they’re going back and forth acting like children when it's both of their responsibility to take care of the MTA and the New York City transit system," one subway rider said.
After releasing its report on how to overhaul the MTA, the agency will then move on next month to a look at all of its capital needs.