For only the second time since 1978, New York faces a state-wide election without a Cuomo running for office. It’s an opportunity for the state to move past the tedium of the Andrew Cuomo years and the imperial governance of one man who would broker no dissent and often failed to encourage or allow hand-picked experts who may have known better to lead. While the current race between Kathy Hochul and Lee Zeldin may not represent the best the Empire State can offer, when it comes to transit, there is only cho
Hochul is an unlikely transit-focused candidate. She’s a Buffalo native, chosen to be Cuomo’s Lieutenant Governor as a sop to upstate voters, and she found herself thrust into the position when Cuomo resigned in 2021. On the transit front, she had to untangle an unstable mess left to her by her predecessor, and she’s succeeded in ways that make me believe she’ll be a stabilizing force for transit in the NYC region and a driver of growth as well.
As governor, Hochul has done what Cuomo failed to do: First, she brought stability to the upper echelons of MTA leadership. While Cuomo presided over a revolving door of agency CEOs and presidents, Hochul chose Janno Lieber, a dedicated, smart and competent official to lead the MTA without her interference. She has given him her support to lead the agency, make decisions regarding transit personnel and growth, and empowered him to change the conversation regarding transit funding, treating the system as a p
Manhattan Contrarian