Andrew Cuomo

The MTA Reinvention Commission report, the product of months of work from a panel of experts, was unceremoniously dumped to the press by the governor's office at 5:30 p.m. yesterday, shortly before Thanksgiving. While the document [PDF] includes a number of worthwhile suggestions, it fails to seriously grapple with the biggest challenges facing New York's transit system. The MTA's astronomical construction costs and the substantial systemwide benefits of funding transit with road pricing get only cursory mentions. This is disappointing, but not surprising, since the report is a reflection of the man who created and controlled the commission: Governor Andrew Cuomo.

In a meeting with representatives from Governor Andrew Cuomo's administration Tuesday, members of Families for Safe Streets called for reforms to New York State Department of Motor Vehicles protocols, with the goal of discouraging reckless driving and obtaining some measure of justice for crash victims and their families.

Nine bicycle and pedestrian projects in New York City are receiving federal funds distributed through New York State DOT, according to an announcement late last month by Governor Andrew Cuomo. The projects range from pedestrian safety fixes on streets near busy expressways to upgraded plazas and greenways.

Andrew Cuomo may have won re-election, but New York was no exception to the national Republican wave in yesterday's elections. The GOP regained control of the State Senate, weakening its bond with the Independent Democratic Conference and keeping mainline Democrats in the minority. With last night's results, the landscape for transit and livable streets legislation in Albany has shifted.

Yesterday, Governor Andrew Cuomo called the region's transit investment plan "bloated" and rejected calls for new revenue. Today, MTA Chairman and CEO Tom Prendergast, speaking at a forum on best practices in regional transit governance, hammered home the need for elected officials to find new money to fill the half-funded capital plan's $15 billion gap.

The City Council transportation committee today passed bills to lower the city's speed limit and give hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers a transit-related tax benefit. But most of this afternoon's hearing was dedicated to the next MTA capital plan.

Mayor Bill de Blasio was one of the estimated 400,000 people marching in Manhattan Sunday to urge world leaders to avert catastrophic climate change before it's too late. And he backed it up by having his administration commit to reducing New York City's carbon emissions 80 percent from 2005 levels by 2050. Andrew Cuomo, meanwhile, was nowhere to be found at the People's Climate March, and for good reason. The governor's climate plan consists mainly of a single strategy: Brace for impact.

This morning, the Environmental Protection Agency rejected the $510.9 million federal loan New York state had requested from a clean water program to pay for the Tappan Zee Bridge replacement project. Only $29 million worth of TZB work is eligible for clean water money, the EPA's regional office ruled, averting a dangerous precedent that could have let governors across the country raid environmental funds to pay for highways.

When Governor Cuomo smiled for the cameras to announce labor deals with the Transport Workers Union and Long Island Rail Road unions, he promised they wouldn't push already-planned fare hikes any higher. The unanswered question was: How much will this cost, and how is he going to pay for it? Now we know: The governor's MTA is moving money away from investments in the system's long-term upkeep, widening a $12 billion hole even as a panel of experts studies ways to pay for needed improvements.