April 28, 2020--The Andrew Cuomo Show

New York governor Andrew Cuomo is having a moment.

New Yorkers I know who for years have not paid any attention whatsoever to the politics of the Empire State are setting kitchen timers to remind them to tune in to his seven-day-a-week Andrew Cuomo Show about the status of coronavirus and what he has encouraged and ordered us to do to reduce the chances that we will catch it and how to seek help if we do.

Unlike someone we know, he is not recommending Lysol enemas. 

That's some of the point--Cuomo is looking good in part because he is not Donald Trump. He is so outperforming the odious president that comparisons can be painful to watch.

Many have become so cynical that they are wondering if Cuomo is mainly interested in positioning himself to scoop up the Democratic presidential nomination this summer if 77-year-old Joe Biden falters. Or, they suspect, Cuomo may already be thinking about 2024 when he will be only 65. 

But even a glance at Cuomo's record reveals he is more than just the latest political heartthrob who gives good press conference. Though that in itself is welcome.

He record of accomplishment, especially when it comes to big and bold infrastructural projects, is more impressive than that of any recent governor as well as any president since Franklin Roosevelt. Yes, that FDR.

Let me list the top five or six--

In the news yesterday there was a report about the L-Line subway in NYC that runs from the hippest part of the new Brooklyn to Union Square Park in Manhattan. The L's tunnel under the East River was badly damaged by super storm Sandy. For seven years the city struggled to come up with the best way to restore it. The ultimate plan included suspending service for three years and was budgeted to cost upwards of a billion dollars.

Cuomo stepped in, claiming that was too long to wait and too much to spend. He offered an alternative plan that he claimed would take 12 months and cost less than a billion.

He was right. Though the governor was mocked by experts who insisted he was overreaching and didn't know what he was talking about, the L Train will be reopened this week, six months ahead of schedule and $100 million under budget.

And then, after languishing unfinished for many decades, the massive project to extend the Second Avenue Subway, Andrew Cuomo got it back on track (pun intended). Relentlessly pressed by him the work was completed, ahead of schedule and again below budget.

Also, there are two massive bridge projects that he pushed to completion--the replacement of the Tappan Zee Bridge across the Hudson River (now named for his father, former governor, Mario), and in Brooklyn, the replacement of the perpetually traffic-clogged Pulaski Bridge.

Another project that was stalled for decades is the conversion of the 42nd Street post office to a new Penn Station, the nation's busiest railroad terminal. Pressed by the governor, work is finally underway.

Even more remarkable, also talked about for decades, is the replacement of LaGuardia Airport, which then Vice President Joe Biden, not inappropriately, compared to a "third world airport."

To quote Barack Obama, at a time when many wonder if America is any longer capable of doing "big things" in eight years, Andrew Cuomo has demonstrated that with the right leadership we can.

So, if he's running for president, more power to him.  

Mario Cuomo Bridge

February 26, 2019--Express to Nowhere

Remember the "bridge to nowhere?" It was to connect nowhere with nowhere.

It was a nearly $500 million boondoggle project in Alaska paid for by earmarks, pork-barrel legislation, in which a project is funded by a stroke of a senior member's pen rather than having to go through the normal legislative authorization process. Powerful Alaskan Senator Ted (Uncle Ted) Stevens was the force behind the infamous bridge since it meant jobs for his constituents. It was never completed as the plug for it was pulled in 2005 when earmarks in general were under attack by "good government" forces.

Now, in California, we have the train to nowhere. 

With the help of billions in federal taxpayer dollars there was a plan to build a high-speed rail line that was to connect the state's Central Valley to Silicone Valley. As originally budgeted a decade ago it was projected to cost $45 billion. But it swelled to $98 billion, more than doubling, and so the newly elected governor, Gavin Newsom, recently cancelled it. 

To tweak dark blue state California, Trump moved swiftly to criticize it as an example of governmental incompetence and corruption and is attempting to claw back $3.5 billion of federal dollars, presumably planning to use the liberated money to help build his Wall.

The California plan called for 171 miles of high-speed rail. About half of that is in various forms of completion. In contrast, during the decade since the California High-Speed Rail Authority was established, China has built 16,000 miles of high-speed rail.

I am reminded of another rail project that is way over budget and taking forever to complete--the Second Avenue subway in New York City.

It was first proposed in 1919, but work on phase one did not begin until 1972. It was halted just three years later and wasn't resumed until 2007. The initial phase, two miles of tunnel and three stations, was completed ten years later, in 1917. It cost $4.45 billion and was more than $500 million over budget. 

There are three more phases planned. The second is projected to be completed by 2029 and when all four phases are finished it will be 8.5 miles long and include 16 stations.

New York City has a total of 236 miles of subway track and 472 stations. It was built in about 50 years. At the rate the Second Avenue Subway is being worked on, to construct that many miles of tunnel, track, and stations would take 1,180 years and cost about $600 billion. Of course, plus billions over budget.