Andrew Cuomo

Cuomo Drives Old-Timey Car Across Brand New Bridge While Sticking NYers With Old-Timey Transit System

As it happens, FDR's car is the same vintage as many components in the signal system of the New York City subway. The difference is that the signal system isn't a museum piece that Cuomo can commandeer for a day -- it's real equipment that keeps millions of people moving on a 24/7 rail system.

By Brad Aaron

9:50 AM EDT on April 28, 2017

The governor celebrates his transportation infrastructure achievement by driving FDR's old car over the new Kosciuzsko Bridge. Imagery: @NYGovCuomo

In case you missed it, Andrew Cuomo spent Thursday reveling in the glory that is the new Kosciuszko Bridge.

The governor’s Twitter feed was wall-to-wall Kosciuszko beginning Wednesday night, ahead of a light and music show — another Cuomo production — broadcast live online when the bridge officially opened to traffic not long before midnight yesterday.

The coup de grace of the daytime festivities: Cuomo motoring across the bridge, alone, in a 1932 Packard once owned by Franklin D. Roosevelt. As it happens, FDR’s car is the same vintage as many components in the signal system of the New York City subway.

The difference is that the signal system isn’t a museum piece that Cuomo can commandeer for a day — it’s real equipment that keeps millions of people moving on a 24/7 rail system. Equipment made from parts that ceased to be manufactured long ago, which the MTA now refurbishes in-house. Equipment that leads to a staggering number of subway delays. Equipment that was superseded by modern technology decades ago.

The MTA awarded the first contract to upgrade the signal system in 1999. The potential to improve the capacity and reliability of the subways is huge, but today only one subway line has modern signals. What has Cuomo done to accelerate the replacement of this key system?

At a time when severe transit delays have become an everyday fact of life for New Yorkers — with multiple incidents in the past week alone — we can’t think of a more suitable image of Cuomo’s tenure as MTA boss than the video below: a remix of Cuomo’s ride from Andrew Simone.

Be sure to turn up the sound to get the full effect, and to muffle your sobs.

https://twitter.com/asimone/status/857633785269166080

Brad Aaron

Brad Aaron began writing for Streetsblog in 2007, after years as a reporter, editor, and publisher in the alternative weekly business. Brad adopted New York's dysfunctional traffic justice system as his primary beat for Streetsblog. He lives in Manhattan.

Andrew Cuomo | MTA | Subways | Transit

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