While Cuomo Drives a 1930s Car, Subway System’s 1930s Tech Melts Down
Multiple lines were delayed on Friday — but here's the good news: the governor got to drive his favorite old car across the Tappan Zee Bridge!
Another subway meltdown, another day when Gov. Cuomo celebrated cars.
On Friday morning, no less than 12 subway lines were delayed during rush hour because of failures by the subway system’s signal system, with parts dating back to the 1930s. At roughly the same time, Cuomo, who oversees the subway system, was driving a 1930s car over the new Tappan Zee Bridge, a juxtaposition that we turned into this handy photo:
The Riders Alliance listed the full magnitude of the problem for the subway customers in the photo at right:
The crowded E and M trains were each delayed twice, by two different signal problems. At the height of the morning commute, between 8:30 and 9 a.m., trains were simultaneously delayed on the packed Queens Boulevard, Fulton Street, and Lexington Avenue lines. Altogether, riders on the 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, A, C, E, F, J, M, and R trains had their commutes to work upended by broken subway signals.New signals to replace the faulty 1930s-era technology still in use today are at the heart of the MTA’s Fast Forward plan to fix the subway, which state government in Albany has yet to fund … The governor, who controls the MTA and the state budget process, is the only person in New York who can solve this problem.
“In all it took me over an hour and a half to get to work today,” said one of the group’s organizers, Samaya Abdus-Salaam, whose commute from the Bronx to Manhattan on the 6 train usually takes 50 minutes. “We couldn’t move. So I got off the 6, took the bus all the way to Grand Concourse, transferred to the D to West 4th and then finally caught the E to Spring Street.”
Abdus-Salaam’s pro-transit group was not alone in pointing out the juxtaposition of the Governor’s mode of transportation on Friday and the failing system left to straphangers:
The signaling system in the NYC subway is probably older than this car. https://t.co/f92aEiwedd
— Nicholas Russo (@clickonnick) September 7, 2018
And Nolan Hicks of the New York Post added some context:
UPDATE: Number of times Cuomo has used a mode of transport in the last eight years (per public schedule): Subway – 2
FDR's Packard – 2(!)He also had it at the Kosciuszko opening. https://t.co/R8yeabH6a8
— Nolan Hicks (@ndhapple) September 7, 2018
Cuomo’s Democratic challenger and noted subway rider Cynthia Nixon was herself delayed this morning.
Nixon later tweeted about the incumbent’s stewardship of the system.
He’s the one who broke the subway. I’m the one who’s going to fix it. #CuomosMTA https://t.co/bSgFDQbQNb
— Cynthia Nixon (@CynthiaNixon) September 7, 2018
Before fully demonizing the people who run the subway system, at least note that the NYCT Subway Twitter account was very apologetic.
It's been a challenging morning for our subway system. This is not the service we hope to provide. Please continue to expect delays as we resolve several issues and clear congestion. Details:
— NYCT Subway (@NYCTSubway) September 7, 2018
The agency did own up to a blown fuse that hurt service on the 4, 5 and 6 line and the C train. And a broken signal at Court Square. There was also a suicide on the Q train.
https://twitter.com/helloitscassia/status/1037771433013854209
