New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has declared a State of Emergency for the MTA. This allows the agency to speed up improvements on the Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North, and the New York City Subways.
Governor Cuomo signed the executive order on the same day that Amtrak power problems caused massive delays on the LIRR into Manhattan.
“We know the system is decaying, and we know the system is decaying rapidly. I think of it as a heart attack. It happens all of a sudden, and the temptation is to say, ‘Something must have just caused it.’ No, a lifetime caused it,” the governor said.
Cuomo has pledged $1 billion in state funding to the agency, and has ordered a top down review of the MTA to be completed in 30 days, with an action plan ready in 60.
“Change and improvement must come, and it must come now. New Yorkers are not by their nature a patient people, and they shouldn’t be especially when it comes to this.”
Cuomo also said that if recent power problems in the subways could be traced back to Con Ed, the utility will be fined.
Amtrak will start the first of two extended periods of track work at Penn Station on July 10.
