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editorial
Cuomo-Trump feud may derail subway modernization plan
As he made his way out of MTA
HQ hearing chants of “Train Daddy”
above the skreel of the bagpipes, former
Story: Forest Hills Stadium relaunches season ticket
program where fans can see shows for $19.23
Summary: Forest Hills Stadium’s 1923 program aims to
make going to a show at the venue an aff ordable option
for ticket holders. For a one-time cost of $19.23 — a nod
to the year the stadium was built — those who join the
1923 Club will be able to purchase up to two limitedview
tickets costing $19.23 each to shows at Forest Hills
Stadium.
Reach: 82,639 (as of 2/24/20)
transit chief Andy Byford moved
past hundreds of supporters, many
in the crowd had derisive things to
say about Governor Andrew Cuomo’s
roll in Byford handing in his resignation
on Jan. 23.
Insiders say Byford felt sidelined
by the governor’s realignment of the
agency the transit guru had turned
around since taking over at the end
of 2017’s “summer of hell” as Cuomo
described it.
Now Byford’s work is in jeopardy
and Queens straphangers have reason
to be concerned.
It’s Cuomo’s blood feud with another
so-called “Queens boy” that is now
endangering Byford’s $51 billion Fast
Forward plan to modernize the subway
system depends on congestion
pricing and the fees motorists will
have to pay to navigate below 60th
Street in Manhattan with tolling set
to begin in January 2021.
But the plan requires approval of
the Federal Highway Administration,
part of the Trump Administration’s
Department of Transportation,
which claims that New York state has
failed to provide the necessary documentation
Cuomo acknowledged the feds have
not told state authorities which type
of environmental review they need to
submit to gain federal approval of the
ambitious project, which has never
been tried in the United States.
In recent weeks, the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security
barred New Yorkers from the federal
Trusted Travelers program and this
week the federal government cut $8
billion to New York State’s Medicaid
programs.
“I’m not holding my breath for
them to approve congestion pricing,”
Cuomo said during an unrelated
press conference. Cuomo added
that he assumed federal approval of
the project would be “perfunctory,”
but how could that be when you’re
a high profi le Democrat from the
Empire State and you trade insults
with President Trump on Twitter.
Th e “Train Daddy” is no longer
at the helm of the city’s subway system
and that’s a bad thing for Queens
commuters. Th e lack of congestion
pricing funding Byford’s Fast
Forward plan would no doubt bring
back the “summer from hell,” but
this time it might play out over many
more seasons of systemwide meltdowns,
poor signal systems and rail
infrastructure overhauls.
THE QUEENS
until last month.
sun
PUBLISHER & EDITOR
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ZACHARY GEWELB
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ANGELICA ACEVEDO, JENNA BAGCAL, KATRINA MEDOFF,
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CLIFF KASDEN, SAMANTHA SOHMER, ELIZABETH ALONI
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CELESTE ALAMIN
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VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS
JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS
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Photo by Mark Hallum
Andy Byford left MTA headquarters and now his plan to modernize the subway system could be endangered
by a feud between Governor Cuomo and President Trump.
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