What struck me about Prendergast’s statement is that it was so brazenly dishonest. It portrayed the city’s agreed contribution of some half-billion dollars as being in response to Cuomo’s insistence that the city cough up more than $3 billion, when the $3 billion demand in fact came after a whole process where the MTA asked for, and the city granted, much smaller amounts. There was also the lie about not being able to spend money on maintaining the G tracks because the 2015-2019 capital plan remains incompletely funded, despite (as you’ve noted) Cuomo’s vagueness over where he’d get the money, and earlier assurances that the failure to tie up the plan on time wouldn’t have any implications for current system maintenance (back when Cuomo decided to whiff it until the next session).

Cuomo must have some idea of where he’s going to get the $8 billion. He must be looking for a politically advantageous opportunity to let the rest of us know – thereby prolonging uncertainty and giving the mayor no reason to get serious about it.

““Our 2015-19 Capital Program allocates $927.5 million for repairing and rebuilding subway line structures, including bench walls such as the one involved in last night’s derailment.”

Instead of arguing about it, Prendergast should simply make public the document that states that, if the 2015-2019 Capital Program was fully funded on January 1, 2015, the bench wall would have already been scheduled to be repaired in time before the derailment happened, and the derailment thus avoided. But there is probably no such document, and even if there was it would indict Cuomo as much as de Blasio. I wonder if the bench wall was even marked as a serious defect in any internal database.

In any case, it’s well known that many capital projects are delayed, often by years, and often for legitimate reasons (like the need to be open for moving passengers, with work done only in the off hours). So even if a fully-funded Capital Program started on time, the bench wall would have still gone unrepaired for months or years. There are still projects being worked on today that were funded in the 90’s and 2000’s. At the current pace of work – and given the current extreme constraints on when to do the work, how much labor is available, and how much that labor costs – it’s basically impossible to patch the Titanic faster than its rate of sinking.

One of three things is true:

1) Generation Greed has done so much financial damage, and both Cuomo and DeBlasio are so determined to pander to other constituencies to advance their careers, that they have concluded that the decline to the point of collapse of the transit system is inevitable. They are sparring over who will get the blame: Cuomo — blame the city. DeBlasio — blame the feds.

2) Generation Greed has done so much financial damage that preventing the decline to the point of collapse of the transit system can only be prevented by severe pain to riders, contractors, unions, taxpayers, and toll payers. They want someone else to be blamed for those sacrifices.

3) Since Generation Greed had been robbing the future, they want to keep robbing it, making things even worse in the future but avoiding any consequences in the present. They know the system won’t fall apart overnight, and the debt and pension death spiral only bleeds people a little at a time.

May I point out that if Cuomo’s “state contribution” is just more debt to make future generations even worse off (and NYC is where those future generations are living), the add debt plan matches what some here want. I’m opposed. I don’t want what has happened, and is happening, covered up anymore. I want it out in the open.

Not even the worst thing. Now is a good time to borrow. Actually, the past 7 years or so. We have record low interest rates.

The truly important thing is to control costs of the infrastructure itself up front. Over-utilization of labor? Bad work rules? Inflated construction costs? Most people who worry about debt don’t blink about real problems.

Cuomo’s approval ratings keep sinking. Even with the press in the tank for Cuomo as vs. de Blasio, Cuomo is just as unpopular as de Blasio.