NYC Transit Advocates, Elected Officials Urge Riders to Blame Albany for Poor Subway Service

 

By Mike Vilensky

A growing group of concerned New Yorkers have a message for straphangers fuming about poor subway service: Blame Albany.

New York City mayors have long been taking heat, and sometimes credit, for the quality of the subways, even though New York governors have more sway over the system’s funding and leadership.

Now, as the aging trains face worsening problems, transit advocates and elected officials are seeking to inform riders of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s influence. They are holding events outside his New York City office, using the hashtag #CuomosMTA, and publicly calling for Mr. Cuomo to take more ownership.

“Our running theory has been that because a lot of people are blaming the mayor, the governor will not take the steps needed to fix the day-to-day problems on the subway,” said John Raskin, executive director of the transit-advocacy group the Riders Alliance. “So there’s a deliberate effort on the part of advocates to make sure that everyday riders hold Cuomo accountable for the quality of their subway experience.” 

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Source: The Wall Street Journal (via The Empire Report)