Meet the new Cuomo loyalist. Same as the old Cuomo loyalist?
The big news yesterday was Gov. Cuomo's decision to shift MTA Chairman and CEO Pat Foye to the state's economic development corporation and elevate New York City Transit President Sarah Feinberg to the board chair position and make MTA construction honcho Janno Lieber the new CEO of the MTA — splitting the positions for the first time in a decade or so. (Reinvent Albany sounded the alarm.)
Everyone covered (except for us — we cover the Titanic, not the deck chairs):
- The Daily News spun Cuomo's move to split the MTA positions as a power grab (also a big pay cut for Feinberg, as the chair of the MTA board is an unpaid position!). Under Cuomo's plan, the state Senate would no longer get a say over the MTA CEO, the day-to-day operator of the transit system.
- The Post played it straight, but then found its voice to focus on the power grab.
- The Times played it way too straight, though it's a good thing that paper has Dick Ravitch on speed dial.
- The Wall Street Journal played it way way way too straight, barely even mentioning the power grab.
In other news:
- Hey, MTA, can either Feinberg or Lieber get their bus out of this person's house? (Gothamist)
- Mayor de Blasio admitted that he’s way behind on figuring out what to do with the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway ... and is punting to the next mayor. (amNY)
- The mayor is still defending his and the NYPD's crackdown in Washington Square Park. (Village Sun)
- The candidate who wants to succeed Corey Johnson in a West Village/Hells Kitchen Council seat is calling for a new stop on the 7 train between Times Square and Hudson Yards. (Patch, Streetsblog, Village Sun)
- Like Streetsblog, the Staten Island Advance covered the Harvard study that revealed that car and truck pollution is literally killing us and hurting our economy. Unlike Streetsblog, the Advance is decidedly pro-car.
