Cuomo, the NYC Subway, and Drip, Drip, Drip

When Cuomo declared an emergency in the New York City subway, and I noted that the emergency was largely precipitated by Cuomo’s hostility to and neglect of mass transit in New York City.

Well, now some of the specifics are coming out, and now we know that just a year ago, Andrew Cuomo ordered the MTA to cut a $5 million dollar check to ski slopes in upstate New York:

What’s come to be known as “the winter that wasn’t” in 2015-16 was so bad for business at state-owned ski centers such as Whiteface Mountain that Gov. Andrew Cuomo swooped in late last winter and directed a major downstate authority, cash-strapped in its own right, to expedite funds to this region’s state Olympic Regional Development Authority.

In March 2016, Cuomo’s administration directed the downstate-based Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the largest public transit authority in the U.S., to write a $4.9 million check to ORDA after its ski centers ailed from a lack of business amid 2015-16’s mild weather. ORDA owns and operates Whiteface Mountain Ski Center in Wilmington, Gore Mountain Ski Center in North Creek and Belleayre Ski Center in the Catskills.

The inter-authority transfer of funds was atypical, as Cuomo’s administration told the MTA to send the money directly to ORDA rather than to the state’s Division of Budget, which could then reallocate funds to ORDA.


………

Cuomo also has pledged $20 million worth of upgrades to its winter sports facilities at Whiteface and Gore mountains and at Mount Van Hoevenberg in Lake Placid, with a specific focus of emphasizing year-round attractions. At Mount Van Hoevenberg — currently home of the state’s bobsled-luge-skeleton track, cross-country skiing and biathlon venues — the state wants to finance the construction of the longest “mountain coaster” in the United States. At Whiteface, the state plans to build one of the longest zip lines in North America. Cuomo said in January that Whiteface and Gore aren’t good enough to compete globally without upscale amenities and conveniences and year-round attractions.

What a complete sh%$heel, which probably means the DNC is probably grooming him to be the 2020 Democratic nominee for President.

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