Cuomo Heads To Washington To Pitch Trump On NYC Infrastructure

NEW YORK CITY — Gov. Andrew Cuomo heads to Washington Wednesday to pitch President Donald Trump on sweeping infrastructural fixes for New York City that include a new Penn Station, extended Second Avenue Subway and a direct train to La Guardia Airport.

"You wanna reopen the economy? Let's do something creative," said Cuomo. "Let's make America better."

Cuomo's bid for big infrastructural investments come as the rest of New York State restarts its economy and New York City struggles to meet the governor's reopening benchmarks.

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The statewide shutdown — which Mayor Bill de Blasio estimates could end as early as the first week of June — has cost New York City thousands of small businesses and as many as 900,000 jobs.

To speed up New York City's reopening, Cuomo said he would amp up efforts to stop the spread in low-income areas hit hardest by COVID-19.

"We can literally focus on those areas by zip code," Cuomo said. "That will really bring the numbers down in New York City."

The New York Stock Exchange reopened Tuesday but with only 25 percent of traders, all of whom were told not to take public transportation, on the floor.

Both de Blasio and Cuomo have been loath to specify how exactly the MTA will protect hundreds of thousands New Yorkers expected to return to work in the first phase of the reopening next month.

"You can't do a full reopening without public transportation," Cuomo said simply. "You need to schedule in a way that you don't overload a train."

Read More: Subway Reservation System Considered Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

Cuomo warned New Yorkers not to expect the economy to bounce back and return to the status quo, but said he hoped a "new normal" would include major infrastructural projects to increase jobs and improve quality of life in the city.

"We want that economy to come roaring back," Cuomo said. "And that's not going to happen by wishing it to be so."

Among the projects Cuomo intends to pitch to the president are a new Penn Station (which he said has been "torturing people for too long"), extending the Second Avenue subway line to 125th Street, rebuilding La Guardia Airport and building renewable power lines from Canada to the city.

"I want projects that are real as opposed to theoretical," Cuomo said. "We'll see what happens."

But Trump's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly when it comes to economic policy, has been a point of contention between the president and New York governor, who have frequently and publicly mocked one another.

Cuomo has spent weeks pleading for increased federal support and criticizing the initial stimulus bill that he argued short-changed Democrat-led states and could lead to serious budget cuts in New York's schools and hospitals.

"Federal representatives, it's your turn to deliver," said Cuomo. "We need help, we need you to deliver."

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