New Yorkers Look for 'Summer of Hell’ Source and Find Cuomo

Had to ride two elevators on my commute home yesterday, in the heat. Both were functional (luckily) but the stench in each was nauseating, such that my fellow riders and I had to put our hands over our mouths and noses for the duration of the rides.
I don't think it would take too much of a cut out of the MTA budget and would improve the quality of transit immensely if the MTA hired, say, 10 VERY well-paid people whose sole job it was to just maintain the cleanliness of the subway's elevator system, 24/7.
Please? It's a real quality-of-life issue that would take just a little practical application of common sense to solve.

Maybe Cuomo will fix the subways if we let him name them after his daddy.

If this fool has the gall to run again next year, I hope the voters remember this and elect anyone else.

It's as simple as ABC, Anyone But Cuomo.

This has got to be a first.... The Times actually got through an entire article about NYC services without blaming Bill de Blasio.

What next? Explaining that NYC subways look like sewers because, unlike civilized countries, our federal government has no interest in public transportation. Campaign contributors don't use it, after all.

What doesn't help New York's MTA is the fact that Cuomo and DeBlasio's inability to put differences behind and work on a cohesive solution, like one that New Yorkers and all those people who use the MTA deserve. Instead they point fingers and give fingers to each other. Cuomo's continual denial about how he is not in charge of the MTA . . . well Mr. Cuomo, for someone not in charge of the MTA, you certainly made sure you were front and center in the 2nd Avenue subway pictures.

As far as 'Summer of Hell' and Penn Station, that is an Amtrak / federal issue. Chris Christy needs to explain the reasoning behind pulling funding for NJ Transit which in turn, impacted Amtrak's ability to maintain the regional rails. And our lovely US 'representatives' and senators need to explain their lack of support and funding for Amtrak-related spending. These infrastructure issues that have been festering for quite sometime. To fix the track issues now in a crunch will end up costing more than if the proper maintenance was executed all along. A similar issue is evident with the subway -- switch maintenance every 30 days . .. nah, let's do 90 days!

If Coumo had let his Albany anti-corruption Moreland Commission to go forward, Andrew Cuomo would be behind bars as a corrupt politician, joining the other 2 men of the "3 Men In A Room Government" -- Sheldon Silver and Dean Skelos -- in prison. Andrew Cuomo is a sleezy politician. And I'm a Democrat.

Governor Cuomo's SUV caravan was parked in front of his office on 3rd Ave when I got off the subway on the first day of the "Summer of Hell" so he certainly wasn't relying on mass transit.

Personally, I blame the governor more for not doing anything to deal with our crushing property taxes in the metro NY area and bring jobs to the rest of the state more then for the inept MTA.

It is really amazing he thinks he is qualified to be president. Sorry governor, free SUNY tuition isn't getting you my vote for whatever office you run for next.

Not only are Cuomo's subways lousy, another thing that's got me ticked off is how he's weaseled his way into having the State name an unnecessary bridge after his father. Such hubris!

"‘Summer of Hell’ Is Causing Trouble for Gov. Cuomo"?

Cuomo has been a huge part of the problem for the ongoing MTA management fiasco, just as he is for the Port Authority cesspool! Both debacles share the same motives: power-grabbing and political control, political payback (to NYC and its mayors), and a refusal to govern.

Cuomo repeatedly wants to punish NYC mayors (MTA) and make nice to the likes of Christie (PA) -- both at the expense of the voters and tax-payers of NY and NJ!

Perhaps the one good thing about the MTA and PA debacles is that Cuomo is finally being outed for willful misrule!

This is why I walk 30 minutes plus from work to home to avoid 4 stops on the subway. It's definitely worse than before.

It's not just the MTA; Cuomo is a failure by any standard.

The only place he's a winner is in his own mind. Out here in the real world, many of us know what a sleaze this Cuomo is, and he keeps finding new ways to demonstrate his disregard for the citizens of NY.

Today more than ever, we are the victims of political ideology. And in the case of New York city and state, one party rule. There are no ideas outside of what the party in control sees as it's orthodoxy. There is no debate. There is no compromise. There is nothing as in nothing gets done. And we the citizens, the voters suffer. We have a mayor who was elected by 19% of the registered voters. 4 years later he has little of no opposition and will be re-elected by what 10% of the registered voters. Is this the world we want to live in. The French got it right: THROW THE BUMS OUT. We need somebody to step up with solutions not beholding to party ideology. Where are you?!

In February 5, 2016 my wife was walking to work. She was five minutes from reaching her office located on Worth Street when the maintenance crane-565 feet in height--collapsed. It is no exaggeration to say she could have been the second fatality.
When I hear of train derailments on the subway lines, I feel her life is again is in peril.
A culture of disregard for public safety has entrenched itself in New York, and throughout the US. It has reached the point that staggeringly costly investments are needed to alleviate the situation, but this culture of disregard blinds us from acting.

Please, sweetheart, let's move.

Years of neglect and under funding. Failing to invest in infrastructure as ridership boomed. Disaster. Chickens coming home to roost

It's not just the subways. He installed ezzy pass tolls at the beginning of the Triboro Bridge in Astoria. They worked at all hours causing noise, pollution and horrendous traffic nightmares. Did the governor think of the residents who were woken up at 3 am on a Sunday because they were moving heavy equipment. There is only one lane to enter the bridge from 4 lanes of traffic. Really smart!

What I find astonishing is that the majority of people who voted for Cuomo live in NYC and he shows no interest in representing us in Albany. City voters are his base, yet he continues to ignore our problems and focus on presenting himself as a moderate palatable to upstate voters. All this in order to accomplish...what? Some kind of window dressing for a presidential run? It's absurd. His enabling of turncoat Democrats in the state senate and bizarre attention to spending money anywhere but the 5 boros will be his downfall. Fix the subways and you'll be a hero. Seriously. We are (quite literally) coming apart at the seams down here.

If there is one public agency that should be privatized it is the MTA. It has served for decades as the playground for political appointments for both the NY and NJ Governors, to the great detriment of metropolitan area residents. Years and years of disregard for long term planning and investment coupled with years and years of political patronage, extraordinary salaries, padded payrolls, and multiple scandals have not reflected badly enough on the two Governors. It is time for real change that will help the next generation. We need competent management staff throughout the MTA and far better oversight of revenues and expenses. The MTA has wasted millions of dollars of taxpayer money and we are left with a transportation infrastructure that is woefully inadequate for today, tomorrow, and the years ahead.

Only a quarter? Amazing.

What a pipe dream. Cuomo's agenda is a national one. He is positioning himself to run for president in 2020. Like most politicians, he yells about problems, but he has no solution. A truth teller would admit that the MTA would have to triple the transit fare to fund any difference making reconstruction of the subway system. Cuomo will not do that, because it would cost him the votes he needs from the Democrat controlled cities like New York. Instead, he will continue the tried and failed trick of increasing tolls on the bridges and tunnels and Thruway, and sending 90% of these same tolls to fund the crumbling mass transit system. It's how Democrats always roll.

Does Cuomo even know there is a Metro North Station near his residence of Mt. Kisco? Has he ever traveled by Metro North? If not, now is the time. We also need to hold long time legislators who do nothing about the train stations in their districts. Someone please tell me how Assembly Member Denny Farrell has had a district office steps away from the end of the 3 train station for decades and there is no elevator, escalator, bathroom? What has his office been doing for decades?

If more New Yorkers could spend a few days in other major world cities and see how clean and efficient public transportation can be when it is adequately funded and competently operated, the outrage would be overwhelming.

Please, no more political dynasties. The bloodlines keep thinning out and Americans can't take anymore. No more Bush's, no more Clintons, no more Cuomos, and definitely never any more Trump's.

Oh gee. But who is the head of the committee in the legislature who oversees the MTA. Penn Station maintenance must be done... BUT what bothers me more is the absolute stupidity used in the matter of the subways, which BTW should all be run by robots. (BART has had the system for nearly 50 years. One person per train!) Meantime, we don't clean or maintain the subways... doesn't cost enough and not enough basheesh... oh yes private firms come in with useless power washers -- you have to scrape or melt the gum away -- there hare no handrails on the raised steps (and the top step should not be raised- a tripping hazard and often too high to descend from easily which is a handrail is needed-- one at 79th and B-way for reference (SW side). Ceilings should all be painted white (which is the color of the plaster beneath the paint)- as the cavemen knew-- and the tunnels ditto- white reflects light makes it easier to see. The railings now steel uncoated either need coating (cf.those at the Red Rocks Amphitheater, Denver)- so they aren't super hot in the summer and cold in the winter.. or they (and the benches in the bus shelters - could be made of wood - a self insulating material. Unable to get my suitcase thur the turnstile the other day, I had a memor of when entrances were wider!!Ssheer filth in newly redone at unnecessary and great expense 168th and BWay no.1 stop. At least the fan again works at 168th -IRT. IMO way too much privatization and not enough cleaners. tbc

Maybe New Yorkers are waking up to the fact that Andrew Cuomo has gone out of his way undermine the programs and services that serve the vast majority of our city. His transportation goals are in the service of suburban commuters, drivers, and visitors. He has actively undermined efforts to put more control of city governance in the hands of city residents - using mayoral control of schools as a bargaining chip and withholding billions of dollars he is under court order to turn over to NYC public schools. Cuomo takes the votes of city residents for granted and plays to suburban and upstate concerns. I, for one, am tired of it.

The silver lining in all these problems is that New Yorkers are finally learning that most of the budget comes from the state, not the city, and that therefore the ire should be trained on the governor, and that we should direct our energies at fixing this dysfunctional budgeting system.

The frustrations of subway riders is real, but the "Let's blame Cuomo" result has more to do with visibility than thoughtful deliberation. Most of those polled couldn't explain the structure of the MTA, it's Board members names or functions or the names of their state legislators. But like the President, everyone knows Andrew Cuomo's name, so let's pile on.

Does he control Amtrak? No. Did the infrastructure problems start when he became governor? No. Did past MTA Boards wisely plan for a vast increase in ridership? No. The governor is forced to play "catch-up" with these problems left to him by others and he seems to have made an effort to do so. The jury is still out on the future outcome. Also, much of this anti-Cuomo noise is the hard left (and their opposite, the hard right) throwing darts at a center-left politician whose relative moderation gives them fits.