MTA Is No Longer In A "State of Emergency," But Cuomo Seeks Greater Control Of Top Positions
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Governor Andrew Cuomo at the opening of the 2nd Avenue Subway on January 1, 2017
Governor Cuomo's office
There was no fanfare, celebratory train ride, or even an announcement. But at the end of June, Governor Andrew Cuomo quietly decided the MTA’s status in a “state of emergency” was over. The executive order, which he’d renewed 49 times over the past four years, allowed the MTA to bypass oversight requirements in the name of expediency for making repairs and upgrades.
When Cuomo signed the executive order in 2017, subway delays and breakdowns were mounting. He created the Subway Action Plan, an open-ended series of tasks, which didn’t require board approval, to tackle what the MTA said were causing 79 percent of major delays. It addressed things like cleaning clogged drains, removing trash that causes fires, fixing broken signals and damaged rails.