The big news is that Gov. Hochul made her State of the State address and it included some little Easter eggs (some of which we covered here and here).
But it didn't take long for the excitement of a full legislative chamber and a color guard and a special invocation from an eloquent minister and a few Buffalo Bills Super Bowl jokes to give way to the harsh reality that this State of the State wasn't really wearing any clothes.
Riders Alliance pointed out that Hochul didn't show transit riders the money:
Riders Alliance on the State of the State: We’re still waiting on the money pic.twitter.com/FpVg1oRNho
— Good Idea Dave (@DaveCoIon) January 10, 2023
And state legislators Zohran Mamdani and Andrew Gounardes weren't all that pleased either.
Add Andrew Gounardes to lawmakers who are disappointed that Hochul didn't use her State of the State to lay out a plan to fund the MTA's fiscal hole pic.twitter.com/ePvwoIszsC
— Good Idea Dave (@DaveCoIon) January 10, 2023
Naturally, retired federal transit man Larry Penner weighed in. Within seconds of the governor concluding her remarks, he sent over a laundry list of vital projects that were nonetheless not mentioned in the speech:
- Second Avenue Subway Phase II — requires $6.9 billion
- Penn Station Transformation — $8 billion
- Cross Harbor Freight Tunnel — $10 billion.
- Renewed support for the MTA initiation of Congestion Pricing
- NYC Transit Staten Island North Shore Bus Rapid Transit — $600 million.
- NYC Transit Staten Island West Shore Bus Rapid Transit — $1.485 billion
- New Port Authority 42nd Street Manhattan Bus Terminal — $10 billion.
- LIRR electrification of Port Jefferson branch from Huntington to Port Jefferson — $3.6 billion
- Light Rail between Jamaica and Long Island City on the old Lower Montauk branch — $2.2 billion.
- Utica Avenue subway extension — $5 to $10 billion.
- #7 line station at 10th Avenue and 41st Street — $1 billion
- #1 train extension from Rector Street to Red Hook — $3.5 billion
- Restoration of rail passenger service from the West Shore of Rockland County — $ billions?
- Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority Light Rail Extension to Amherst — $1.1 billion
"Does this imply that many are no longer are, or never were, a priority for her administration?" Penner asked. "You have to wonder how serious Gov. Hochul's commitment really is to advance these projects. These are fair questions to ask."
Still, Council Transportation Committee Chair Selvena Brooks-Powers only saw the bright side in Hochul's speech, offering what was basically a rewrite of the governor's press release:
Statement on @GovKathyHochul #StateOfState announcements #TransportationAndInfrastructure pic.twitter.com/1jrc05db3f
— CMSelvenaBrooksPowers (@CMBrooksPowers) January 10, 2023
This being New York, news coverage was mixed:
- The Daily News focused on Hochul's housing plans and her retrenchment on bail reform.
- The Post focused on immigrants (dubbing them "migrants"), housing (so did Gothamist, The City and, irascibly, Hell Gate) and also a general overview.
- The Times focused on crime and housing, and a $1-billion plan to take on mental illness (so did Gothamist).
- Like us, amNY focused on the transit initiatives, but also the lack of commitment to shoring up the MTA's finances (so did The City). The paper also did a crime and housing story (so did Gothamist).
- Like us, Gothamist did an entire story on Hochul's support for letting New York City set its own damn speed limits.
In the only other news from a State of the State-sapped day:
- Not many outlets covered the death of a Citi Bike rider in Gowanus yesterday. The Daily News coverage was poor; the Post's was better. Ours was definitive — and we'll be following up today.
