"The mayor can do whatever he wants but the city is subject to state jurisdiction — it's government 101," said Tiffany Portzer, a spokeswoman for the Department of Motor Vehicles. | Getty Images Mayor will fight 'vigorously' against Cuomo-approved autonomous vehicle tests

Two days after Gov. Andrew Cuomo proudly touted GM's plans to test autonomous vehicles in lower Manhattan, Mayor Bill de Blasio — who governs Manhattan's streets — vowed to fight the effort.

"This should never have been done without consulting with the NYPD and the Department of Transportation," de Blasio said at an unrelated press conference about street safety. "We’re going to work vigorously to stop it."


De Blasio's comments on Thursday represent an escalation in rhetoric about a pilot project championed by New York's tech community. The governor's office and the mayor's office traded barbs over the program when it was announced Tuesday. City Hall said it was blindsided by the announcement and the governor's office said the city was being "silly."

The Cuomo administration responded to the mayor's comments Thursday with a civics lesson.

"The mayor can do whatever he wants but the city is subject to state jurisdiction — it's government 101," said Tiffany Portzer, a spokeswoman for the Department of Motor Vehicles. "If the mayor bothered to learn the facts on GM’s testing, he would know that there will be a licensed driver behind the wheel who is also a qualified engineer and a passenger to monitor the vehicle during every demonstration. In fact, New York State's requirements are stricter than any other state’s in the nation. We understand that the mayor's taxi industry donors don't like it, but it is the future and all states are exploring it.”

The mayor's spokesman, Eric Phillips, questioned the DMV's commitment to safety, in response.

“We trust the DMV when it comes to renewing licenses," he said. "We trust the NYPD when it comes to keeping our streets safe."

GM, which seems to have inadvertently driven into the ongoing feud between de Blasio and Cuomo, did not respond to a request for comment.

The governor is positioning himself for a possible presidential run in 2020 on the strength of, among other things, his transportation bona fides. He had the state authorize autonomous vehicle testing earlier this year, citing the need to capture emergent technologies. De Blasio is up for reelection next month, and street safety is one of his primary talking points.

GM, meanwhile, is trying to put itself on the cutting edge of autonomous vehicle development, and New York City's frenetic streetscape makes it a coveted testing ground. Its plans involve deploying a fleet of autonomous Chevy Bolts onto a five-square-mile swatch of lower Manhattan.

That's assuming those plans proceed.

"I really don’t like it," de Blasio said Thursday. "I think it’s a mistake. I think it creates a danger."

Both the automaker and the state say GM is still mapping out the precise parameters of its testing grounds, and that safety is a priority. The state further contends that it consulted with New York City.

But a spokesman for New York City transportation commissioner Polly Trottenberg said Tuesday the department "was not consulted on the timing, details or testing areas for this pilot."

Further, the spokesman said, "Any limited outreach to DOT was not all that informative in regard to what the State plans to roll out," and that Trottenberg "got a heads up about [Tuesday’s] announcement [Wednesday] night."

That's left de Blasio none too pleased.

"The day may come when it’s appropriate to test," he said Thursday. "But only after a very careful process."