ThelifeMark Lennihan/Associated Press Some Twitter users criticized Cuomo for the timing of his announcement.
- New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Thursday that New York City will not shut down the L train subway tunnel for 15 months.
- The Metropolitan
Transportation Authority (MTA), the city's transit agency, announced the planned closure in 2016. - Some Twitter users criticized Cuomo for taking over two years to introduce an alternative plan.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Thursday that New York City will not shut down the L train subway tunnel for 15 months.
The city had planned to close the tunnel, which runs between Brooklyn and Manhattan, for 15 months beginning in April to repair two tubes located beneath the East River. The tubes received serious damage during Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
New York City will instead adopt a new technology previously used for tunnel construction in Europe. The technology, which was recommended by teams from Columbia and Cornell Universities' engineering schools, has not been used in the US.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), New York City's transit agency, announced the planned L train tunnel closure in 2016. The MTA and other government agencies, like the Department of Transportation, had been working on a plan for the L line's 250,000 daily riders to use buses and other subway lines during the closure. Some Brooklyn residents had moved from the borough in anticipation of the closure as rents declined in neighborhoods that would have been affected by it.
Some Twitter users criticized Cuomo for taking over two years to introduce the alternative plan. Here's what Cuomo's critics are saying.
TFW you disrupt the Williamsburg rental market & instill worry into the hearts of local business owners for 2 years but then change your mind about that whole L train shutdown thing.#Cuomo pic.twitter.com/uMWrpc5PKb
- Nick Riccardo (@nickriccardo) January 3, 2019Waiting until the last minute to cancel the L train shutdown -- after three years of anxiety, & a lot of uproot -- just to be hailed the hero, is the single most Cuomo thing possible https://t.co/7YBEFv2QUO
- Rebecca Fishbein (@bfishbfish) January 3, 2019I'm gobsmacked imaging the cost to people people who made housing and employment and all sorts of other huge life decisions based on this https://t.co/MMY8GwYyh7
- erin mccann subscribe to The Times (@mccanner) January 3, 2019I applaud the fact that some critical thinking has finally been applied to the #Ltrain situation but it's infuriating that it's only happening now. Why didn't Cuomo go for a walk in the tunnel 3 or 4 years ago?
- Liz Savery (@lizsavery) January 3, 2019The most charitable interpretation possible about this L train shutdown change is that the governor has been asleep at the wheel for three years, not bothering to question whether the planned shutdown was ideal, and has embraced a better idea ~4 months before the shutdown https://t.co/AdzrTEDlMe
- Sam Raskin (@samraskinz) January 3, 2019I am moving out of Brooklyn and one of the reasons is the L train shutdown. Maybe there was a better/earlier time to weigh in on this, Governor. https://t.co/x2uFu1GyKU
- Nicole Serratore (@MildlyBitter) January 3, 2019