Former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, who is running an independent campaign for mayor, will propose on Tuesday that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, a state agency, yield control of the subway system’s capital construction and station maintenance to New York City.
Under Mr. Cuomo’s plan, the mayor would lead a “construction management team” that would oversee major building projects at subway stations, the purchase of new train cars and repairs and upgrades to critical infrastructure like the aging signal system. The transportation authority would continue to run the subway’s day-to-day operations.
Mr. Cuomo’s proposal, which he is expected to announce at a breakfast hosted by the Association for a Better New York, a civic group, may face long odds if he is elected. The transportation authority’s board is effectively controlled by Gov. Kathy Hochul, whose relationship with Mr. Cuomo is strained, making her cooperation unlikely.
The proposal might also strike many transit advocates as ironic. Mr. Cuomo’s leadership of the agency as governor was at times contentious, and he was criticized for focusing on large-scale projects rather than less-flashy maintenance initiatives that might have kept service running more smoothly.
Mr. Cuomo’s plan would need approval from the transportation authority’s board, which typically has 17 voting members, including six chosen by the governor and just four by New York’s mayor. The governor also selects the board’s chairman and chief executive, currently Janno Lieber, who has significant influence over its capital improvement plan.
State leaders have controlled the subway since 1968 and have resisted past calls for mayoral control of the transit system. Mr. Cuomo’s plan, part of his closing pitch in a mayor’s race where he has trailed Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee, in polls, would be narrower in scope and focus just on capital projects.
In his announcement, Mr. Cuomo will argue that putting the mayor in charge would improve coordination with city agencies and ensure accountability on projects that are delayed or over budget.
“For years, New Yorkers have watched the M.T.A. spend billions while our subway system continues to crumble — projects delayed, budgets blown, promises broken,” Mr. Cuomo said in a statement. “We don’t need more bureaucracy; we need results.”
During his decade as governor, Mr. Cuomo exerted significant influence over the M.T.A. while at times minimizing his responsibility to address its failures.
Mr. Cuomo delighted in the state’s control over the city’s subway system when it was politically beneficial. He often highlighted his role in splashy projects, like the opening of the Second Avenue Subway.
And when ridership cratered during the pandemic, Mr. Cuomo ordered the transit agency to disinfect subway cars overnight to help restore confidence in the system.
Yet Mr. Cuomo was frequently criticized by subway advocates for valuing aesthetic changes to things like lighting or signs over routine maintenance to the subway’s aging infrastructure. In 2017, as delays mounted because of the transit system’s failure to properly maintain its tracks and trains, Mr. Cuomo at first kept his distance, sparring with Mayor Bill de Blasio over who bore responsibility.
As the crisis spiraled into what became known as the “Summer of Hell,” Mr. Cuomo declared a state of emergency for the subway, pledged $1 billion for improvements and released a plan to help facilitate repairs.
After resisting for years, Mr. Cuomo also oversaw the approval of congestion pricing, a plan to toll drivers entering Manhattan to pay for the kinds of subway system upgrades that he now proposes to oversee. (Though he suggested last year that congestion pricing be shelved, he has more recently voiced his support.)
“The city owns the subways — and it’s time we take charge, cut through the red tape and build a world-class transit system that actually works for New Yorkers,” Mr. Cuomo said in a statement.
Mr. Cuomo’s plan calls for bundling contracts, using technology to speed up construction and shutting down parts of the system for short periods to do work rather than partially closing subway lines for weeks on end.
Though more than 3 million people ride the subway daily and the system’s conditions are one of the main metrics by which many New Yorkers judge their local government, the mayor has generally had limited control over its operations.
Some experts have argued that it makes sense for the state to oversee New York’s subway because it is part of a much bigger regional transit network. The transportation authority also oversees the city’s buses, commuter railroads and key bridges and tunnels, and it issues bonds to fund capital projects.
Buses have emerged as a key issue in the mayor’s race this year. Mr. Mamdani, the front-runner, has proposed eliminating bus fares. Mr. Cuomo has proposed making buses and subways free for low-income riders by expanding the scope of an existing transit program, Fair Fares, that offers half-price fares to the poorest New Yorkers.
Michael Gold covers Congress for The Times, with a focus on immigration policy and congressional oversight.
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