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Cecilia Dowd

lipp2bd917_2023-09-17-13-36-50

Welcome back to power and politics. If the Lir had more trains with its roll out of service to Grand Central Madison have gone more smoothly. The New York Post published a report this week suggesting that the Federal government warned the MT A that it needed to purchase more trains years before its service changes took effect. Here's a quote, the Feds began warning the Long Island railroad as early as July of 2017 that it was falling behind schedule to order and receive the roughly 20 eight car trains. It needed to run the promised schedules at its new $11 billion terminal beneath Grand Central. According to reports from the Federal transit administration obtained by the Post, the article goes on to say officials eventually told the FTA in 2020 that they would find the trains from the existing fleet which meant taking trains that already served Penn Station or Brooklyn's Atlantic terminal and moving them to the new Grand Central Madison site. Assemblywoman Michel Age has had some harsh words for the MT A after that report, she joins us now with reaction assemblywoman, good to see you again. I know you were outraged. Upon hearing of this because you had been talking to so many constituents who had struggled in the aftermath of the roll out of Grand Central Madison. What's your reaction here? Yeah. You know, when you think of the, the the region, Long Island, you think of beaches, aquifer farms and also Long Island railroad, it's really the blood this the system that transports commuters and economic activity. And so anything that messes with the Long Island railroad alters our economic activity and it affects the families here on Long Island. And so, you know, this is troubling, you know, I, I really hope that, you know, at the MT A and the MT A board can uh you know, wake up and see that we really need a full time president here on Long Island and making sure that we have an independent voice for commuters. Is it your contention that the MT A is not providing enough resources to the Long Island railroad? Look, you know, I, I wanna make sure we set the scene. Um, you know, uh president, um interim president, Kay Rinaldi is doing a great job, the executive team is doing a great job. Uh but there are a lot of things falling through the cracks. You know, we saw that the there was a cut in um the 20 trip ticket plan, uh which was essential for many high workers, students who split their time between working remote and in office. And that was a valued service here on Long Island and we lost that. So I'm seeing a lot of um you know, small nuanced things falling through the cracks. And I just wanna make sure that we have, you know, leadership or we have people thinking about the nuances of suburban life and making sure that Long Island railroad is accessible, affordable and efficient. All right. So we reached out to the MTA to get their reaction to all of this. And a spokesperson said the following, this is an active procurement and putting aside COVID related cost increases. We have not been comfortable with the pricing. They're talking about new trains here. Fortunately, we have sufficient cars to run the schedule that is running 40% more service and will not be pressured into for paying more important. However, despite the challenges, the MT A has faced purchasing rail cars due to the lack of companies qualified to bid under current federal rules, the size of L I double Rs fleet of railroad cars has had zero impact on the amount of train service. None. That's the quote assembly woman. What do you make of it? I, I guess they haven't been to the, the uh Jamaica station in the evening route. Uh when many of my constituents were struggling to find a seat um when heading back uh from Brooklyn uh or from uh you know, other points to other port Washington. And so, you know, I I just you know, I, I, you know, I want to ensure that all parties are coming to the table. Uh because, you know, we need to make sure that we have accessible transportation for individuals. Um I'm getting constant complaints of overcrowded trains. I'm getting constant complaints of a lack of station maintenance. And so, you know, we have to listen to the commuters first. Um There's a, a bipartisan multi government coalition uh that came out and said, hey, we need to ensure that we have a adequate leadership, making sure that we have people listening to the concerns of the commuters and we have to do that. No, the NTA is also pointing to other work done. They say, listen, we've done 100 projects on Long Island. We're talking about almost $18 billion spent a new station in Elmont in your district. And so that same spokesperson said he was mystified by your comments. That was the word he chose. Um again, are, is your focus here on the L I double R as a whole specific to Grand Central Madison or somewhere in between. See, there's this interpretation. Um you know, remember Long Island, we have 8 million people. We are one third of the New York state population. We pay a lot in taxes uh to Albany and we wanna make sure that we're getting our tax dollars back. And so, you know, I don't know if there's this um a perception that Long Island is just a cash cow. Um, and we already have enough, but we're just asking for our tax dollars back. And so, you know, I think that we just need to dial down the, you know, perception and really talk about the facts of making sure that Long Island get what it deserves. So lastly, you know, when Grand Central Anderson rolled out, we were hearing from so many people. Certainly you were as well. Are you hearing now signs of encouragement or improvement from those same folks who struggled so mightily in those early days. Yeah, you know, as I said before, you know, this is not animosity towards the Long Island railroad. It's just showing that these little issues are taken care of. Um, you know, because again, you know, we have a lot of expense exposure, you know, we have congestion pricing coming, you know, we, we're paying a lot in tax dollars. We want to make sure that these little issues are taken care of so that it doesn't roll into big problems. Long Island Railroad really needs, uh, you know, uh that, that, that consideration, you know, we are faced with unexpected crisis, whether it's extreme weather, labor disputes safety. And so we need to make sure that we're getting as much resources as possible to address the issues. And so all I'm doing is saying, let's come to the table and let's have a conversation and, you know, let's get the perception away that Long Island has enough because we really, we are one of the largest commuter, you know, rail systems in the country and we need to make sure that we're getting what we deserve. All right, assemblywoman. So good to see you again. Keep us updated. Thanks so much. Thank you and still to come on power and politics. It's a big win for gaming operators in the drive to get a New York City casino. The high stakes deal to take over the Trump links golf course in the Bronx. That's next.

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Catherine Rinaldi made the announcement this morning but says she will still serve as Metro-North president.  

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