Cuomo to NYC: Eat My Dust, Plebes

.@NYGovCuomo also basically said the MTA budget gap is the city’s problem. “NYC does have a surplus…I hope the city does provide help.” — Erin Durkin (@erinmdurkin) July 22, 2015

Governor Andrew Cuomo says it’s up to New York City to fund his MTA — and indicated the city will have to do it without the funding mechanism that makes the most sense: the Move NY toll reform plan.

Even after coming up with an additional billion dollars or so, the MTA is still looking at a gap of close to $14 billion in the five-year capital program. If nothing is done to close the gap, New Yorkers can expect to pay higher fares as subways get more crowded and service interruptions become more frequent.

The MTA is a state agency controlled by Governor Cuomo. But Cuomo and state lawmakers failed to address MTA funding during this year’s legislative session. On Wednesday Cuomo said the city is on its own.

“The way you fill a gap is by providing resources to fill the gap,” Cuomo helpfully explained. “And that’s what the MTA has been asking the city. Can they help close the gap?”

On Tuesday, the de Blasio administration signaled that it is at least interested in Move NY, which would raise billions for transit while making bridge tolls more rational and reducing traffic in the Manhattan core.

But City Hall can’t make that happen on its own. Cuomo is the one official in New York who could put toll reform front and center. Nevertheless, on the issue of maintaining the transit system that keeps New York City alive, the governor characterized himself as a spectator.

“Been there done that…I don’t see how it would ever pass.” –@NYGovCuomo shoots down congestion pricing after BdB expresses openness to it — Erin Durkin (@erinmdurkin) July 22, 2015

“If you think that’s going to close the gap and that’s going to pass, then I think you’re going to be sorely disappointed once again,” Cuomo said.

Here, let us fix that for you…

“If you think I’m going to lift a finger to help New York City without getting something major in return, then I think you’re going to be sorely disappointed once again,” Cuomo said, before stomping the gas pedal of his cobalt blue Corvette and speeding off into the distance, engine roaring.