Gov. Andrew Cuomo called on the MTA to impose lifetime bans on serial subway sex offenders Thursday — while praising the NYPD for busting a recidivist robber and pervert.

Cuomo cited a Post story on the arrest of Santiago Gonzalez, who was collared Tuesday after trying to steal cash out of a straphanger’s front pocket on a Manhattan subway. Gonzalez, 71, is a level-three sex offender who has been arrested 27 times — including 24 times in transit.

“I applaud the NYPD’s successful investigation and arrest of one of the worst serial sex offenders on the New York City subway, and support their efforts to ban this individual from the system,” Cuomo said in a statement.

“This is a common sense issue, which is why I am calling on the MTA Board to end the repeated victimization of riders on our subways and buses and enact a lifetime ban on any individual who engages in such abhorrent behavior. The definition of insanity would be to allow this conduct to continue unabated and somehow expect our transit system to improve.”

The NYPD had been monitoring Gonzalez since his last release from jail in June and wants to permanently ban him from the transit system.

But the MTA has insisted that it has no authority to ban people and action on the issue must come from state lawmakers.

In May, Cuomo’s hand-picked MTA chairman Pat Foye called on Albany legislators to pass a law to ban repeat thugs, pests and perverts from the transit system.

The MTA board also passed a resolution in June calling for legislators to take “decisive action” and create a mechanism that would ban predators who prey on riders and MTA workers.

But Cuomo, who has extraordinary influence over the MTA, nevertheless called on the transit agency and its board to enact its own ban.

“The NYPD is right to seek this ban, and now it is the MTA’s responsibility to ensure a safe and efficient system by taking action against these repeat offenders once and for all,” the governor said.

Foye, responding to the governor’s statement, said, “The presence of repeat sex offenders in the subways is outrageous and unacceptable. The MTA board is considering all available options, including a ban on access to NYC Transit for recidivist felons who give up the privilege of riding by repeatedly victimizing fellow New Yorkers.”

He continued, “Shame on them and shame on us if we don’t do everything possible to protect New Yorkers from assaults and abuse. We will. The MTA board has already voted to ask the State legislature to ban violent recidivist criminals, including sex predators. We are prepared to do what it takes to get that done.”

In June, the state Senate passed a bill that would have allowed the MTA to bar serial subway pervs from the transit system — but the measure was blocked in the Assembly and did not become law.