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New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Thursday his intention to create a new entrance to New York's Penn Station in Manhattan as he continued a week-long tour of infrastructure projects ahead of the provincial election. next week.
"It's a commuter nightmare," Cuomo told Penn Station in front of a crowd of transit leaders, construction officials, and unionized workers in a space above the train station overlooking the station. Seventh Avenue.
Previously, state officials had led journalists to a tour of the construction site of the other Eighth Avenue in the James A. Farley Post Office. Under Cuomo's leadership, Empire State Development transforms McKim's century-old Mead & White building into a $ 1.6-billion Moynihan trainhouse to serve Long Island Rail Road and Amtrak passengers in Penn Station.
Cynthia Nixon, who challenges Cuomo in the Democratic primary on Sept. 13, seized the governor's announcement to emphasize that during his tenure, service on the LIRR and Metro, both managed by Metropolitan Transportation under control of the state. Authority, declined.
"The governor has shown time and time again that he has no interest in taking responsibility for the LIRR and the MTA, and instead prefers elaborate photo opportunities to make headlines," Nixon said in a statement. a statement on Thursday.
Earlier this week, Nixon aired a campaign video about subway issues, including rotting stations, overcrowding and delays. "It's him who broke the subway," Ms. Nixon said at the end of the two-minute video. "I am the one who will fix it."
Cuomo has made infrastructure a cornerstone of his administration. Across the region, new bridges, railway expansions and modernization of airports are underway. Meanwhile, the metro system has suffered from persistent delays, overcrowding and large scale breakdowns. The performance of the LIRR has also decreased.
A spokeswoman for Cuomo's campaign rejected Ms. Nixon's claims that he let the LIRR and the MTA deteriorate. In a statement, Abbey Collins said Mr. Cuomo had secured additional funds for the MTA for an additional fee for rental vehicles entering the most congested parts of Manhattan. He also "appointed world-class MTA leaders" to repair the subway, she said.
Penn Station is owned by Amtrak, but some areas of the station are leased to NJ Transit and the Long Island Railroad. The station is also widely used by commuters to and from two busy metro lines.
Cuomo said the proposed new Penn Station entrance at 33rd Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, would ease congestion and improve security in the underground transit center that serves approximately 650,000 metro and subway passengers. suburban train.
The governor has spent this week drawing attention to his successes in infrastructure.
On Tuesday, he took a boat trip by Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge to announce that the second and final span of the crossing of the Hudson River that will replace the Tappan Zee Bridge will open this weekend. He should return to the bridge for a ceremony on Friday.
On Wednesday, he led the inauguration of a $ 2.6 billion project in Westbury, New York, to build a third lane along a 10-mile stretch of the heavily cluttered LIRR mainline between Floral Park and Hicksville.
According to the MTA, this additional lane will increase the capacity of five LIRR branches that carry approximately 40% of the 300,000 daily passengers on the line.
In his speeches on Wednesday and Thursday, Cuomo drew attention to major projects he defended, such as the recently completed Kosciuszko Bridge in New York and the $ 8 billion redevelopment at the airport. LaGuardia.
Cuomo often refers to Penn Station, with its low, low-ceilinged corridors as "catacombs." He said on Thursday that his improvement plans include widening a corridor heavily used by LIRR passengers from 30 feet to 60 feet. feet at 18 feet.
A cost estimate is expected early next year, he added, adding that the project would be funded by the State of New York.
Write to Paul Berger at [email protected]
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