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New York City Should Take Over Control of Subways From State, Andrew Yang Says

https://www.newsweek.com/new-york-ci...g-says-1571426

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- "I think it's difficult for New Yorkers to be able to hold their leaders accountable when, like right now, you look up and say 'Well, you know, this is an Albany responsibility,'" Yang told Newsweek in a recent interview. The Democratic mayoral candidate said it "would be a major step in the right direction" for New York City to take control of the Subway system going forward. — "We need to invest the proper resources that people will feel safe and secure on the subway. We have to make it so that the subway, itself, is reliable. And then we need to get New York back to a point where folks are visiting for business or tourism because those things will end up increasing ridership on the subway," Yang said.

- Yang is not the first person to call for bringing the public transportation system under the city's control, and the idea has previously faced pushback from Albany. — But New York Governor Andrew Cuomo quickly criticized the plan. "Why hasn't a mayor taken it over? There are about 10 billion reasons. That's the $10 billion the state gives to the MTA, primarily New York City Transit Authority between operating and capital," Cuomo said in a March 2019 interview with WAMC radio. — "If New York City took it over, they take it over. They don't get the $10 billion in state funding," he said. However, Cuomo noted that the city could simply cancel the lease it had with the state for decades, although then it would face the threat of the massive funding shortfall.

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