Politics on the Hudson

   During a nearly five-minute interview on National Public Radio this evening, Gov. David Paterson talked about money the state has requested from the federal government for infrastructure projects, the economy and, of course, U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton’s seat.

   New York has more than 40 shovel-ready highway and transportation projects and about 60 wastewater treatment projects ready to go. One of the projects he gave some specifics on would restore Route 252 in Henrietta, Monroe County, which has “no real use right now,” the governor said. Paterson said he thinks the state could get started on some by March if it gets money from President-elect Barack Obama’s administration.  

   “Other than the fact that some of the projects are hard to start in the middle of winter, when the administration will begin, I would say that certainly by March our projects (could begin). As you said, 98 of them are ready to go,” he said.

   Paterson explained that New York needs federal assistance because the state has a $1.75 billion deficit now, and it is expected to reach more than $13 billion in 2009-10. The interviewer asked Paterson if the Wall Street crash was still expected to cost New York $38 billion, and the governor said he thought the total effect would be closer to $50 billion.

   The governor said he wasn’t sure how much of a dent in the economy the infrastructure money would make, but it would provide new jobs. “What I do think it will stimulate is getting people back to work and also demonstrating that the government is active because I think part of this crisis, most of it economic, is psychological and people don’t think that we can find solutions to put people back to work,” he said.

   Paterson joked around a little when asked if he would disclose who is going to replace Clinton, who has been tapped by Obama to be his secretary of state. The governor said he was glad to disclose that New York’s new junior senator would be, and then he paused before saying, “A very qualified person.” 

(AP photo) 

Gov. David Paterson just released a statement urging Congress, President Bush and President-elect Obama to create a financial-assistance package for the auto industry, which includes thousands of workers in western New York.

“As it did with the financial industry assistance package, the federal government must act to secure the future of the critical domestic auto industry,” he said.

General Motors and Ford announced today that they are dealing with large losses this quarter and plan to make layoffs.

“Without a financial bridge from the federal government, already struggling western New York stands to lose more than 2,000 jobs, in addition to the tens of thousands of automotive jobs predicted to be lost across the country,” Paterson said.

“This region of our state cannot sustain another major economic loss, and I fear the harm to upstate New York will be irreparable and widespread, causing a further exodus of skilled workers and deeply rooted families,” he said.

Last week, Paterson was in Washington to ask for federal aid for New York and other states. New York faces a $1.5 billion budget gap so far this year and a $12.5 billion shortfall in 2009-10, in part because of the economic downturn and its effect on Wall Street.

   Last year was the safest on New York’s highways since the state began keeping records in the early 1920s, Gov. David Paterson announced this afternoon. There were 1,317 traffic fatalities in 2007, compared with 1,433 in 2006, according to Department of Motor Vehicles records.

   Other notable findings in the statistics for 2007:

  —Motorcycle crash fatalities decreased by nearly 11 percent.

  —Large truck crashes went down almost 20 percent.

  —Pedestrian crash fatalities were 14 percent lower than in 2006.

   State Police Superintendent Harry Corbitt said the state’s level of commitment to traffic enforcement by troopers and other law-enforcement agencies around New York has never been higher. Troopers issued more than one million tickets in 2007, the first time they wrote so many, he said in a statement.

   State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli just issued an audit critical of the state Thruway Authority’s capital plan for 2005-11, saying it does not identify priority projects or say if they are on time or on budget. They will cost a lot more than the $2.7 billion projected and take a lot longer to finish, DiNapoli found. Auditors said it was difficult to track the status of the various projects and items in the plan.

   “In January, I said the Thruway Authority shoudl hold off on toll hikes,” DiNapoli said in a statement. “The Thruway Authority has not looked at its own spending or prioritized projects. Now the Thruway is pushing back the very projects it used to justify the toll increase in the first place. It begs the question even more: were the toll hikes necessary?”

   DiNapoli’s office began a series of audits on the Thruway Authority after several toll hikes were proposed. The Authority voted to raise tolls, claiming it needed extra money because of decreased traffic and in order to pay for the capital projects.

   The Authority’s capital plan includes more than 300 projects valued at about $2.14 billion for bridge and highway projects, $342 million for equipment and other facility capital needs, $250 million for the Canal System, and $7 million for economic-development projects. 

   Of 486 project items auditors examined, 90 were ahead of schedule, 151 were on time, 161 were behind schedule and 66 had been deleted. Overall, project item budgets increased by a net total of more than $514.7 million, or 19.5 percent, over the original capital plan, they found. (more…)

   Auto insurance rates will increase by an average of less than 1 percent, Gov. David Paterson announced this afternoon. As a result, New York drivers will pay almost $515 million less than what auto insurance companies originally wanted to charge. If they had been allowed to charge what they proposed, rates would have spiked 8 percent. Car insurance premiums total about $10 billion a year in New York.

   Paterson said the state Insurance Department directed insurance companies to factor in reduced driving due to higher gas prices when setting their rates. Several insurers voluntarily reduced or withdrew their requested rate hikes as a result.

   “New York’s auto insurance rates are already the third highest in the nation, and if the original requests for rate increases had been approved, it would have cost New Yorkers more than $600 million,” Paterson said in a statement.

   “It is common sense: when gasoline prices are high, people drive less. When people drive less, they have fewer accidents and fewer claims,” state Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo said in a statement. (more…)

Gov. David Paterson plans to appoint a panel to consider ways to get private investment in state infrastructure projects, potentially like the building of a new Tappan Zee Bridge, he announced today.
The panel on public-private partnerships, headed by one of his key aides, is to issue a preliminary report in 90 days and a final one in six months. “There’s a lot to do to fix New York State’s infrastructure, and there’s not a lot of money to do it with,’’ said state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. “New York needs to craft new strategies to address our capital needs…’’
Last week, Paterson’s administration announced a $16 billion plan to build a new Tappan Zee Bridge across the Hudson River between Rockland and Westchester counties, and to add a commuter-rail system in Rockland that the new bridge would carry over the Hudson before joining up with tracks leading to Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan. The plan also calls for an expansion of bus service in the area. A financing plan is due out in the middle of October.
Paterson aides today didn’t specifically identify that project as one the commission will look at, but other administration officials have said before that getting private money for the bridge would be considered in trying to find the money needed for it.
Last year the administration of former Gov. Eliot Spitzer looked at privatizing the state Lottery, and there has also been talk of doing the same to the state Thruway.

   The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s $6.4 billion proposal to balance this year’s budget and narrow budget shortfalls in future years relies too heavily on additional state and New York City assistance, Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said in a report today. The MTA needs to develop a contingency program because the financial help may not be forthcoming given the recent developments on Wall Street, he said.

   The plan anticipates nearly half of additional resources will come from state and city aid, less than 25 percent would come from internal cost-savings, and 37 percent of the savings have not been spelled out. This summer, the MTA projected operating budget gaps of $1.1 billion in 2009, $1.9 billion in 2010, $2.1 billion in 2011 and $2.3 billion in 2012.

   The comptroller’s report found that the MTA still faces budget shortfalls of $522 million in 2009, $1.4 billion in 2010, $1.6 billion in 2011 and $1.8 billion in 2012. Even if all its cost-cutting measures were successful, there would still be a gap of $250 million in 2010—the equivalent of a 5 percent fare hike.

   The economic problems on Wall Street could further reduce tax collections and cause job losses that ultimately could reduce the MTA’s ridership, the report said.

   The Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Google launched Google Transit in New York today, Gov. David Paterson has announced. Google Transit, provided through Google Maps online mapping service, will now offer public-transit trip planning in MTA service territories. That includes New York City Transit, the Long Island Rail Road, the Metro-North Railroad, MTA Bus, Long Island Bus and the Staten Island Railway, along with other regional connecting services in New York and New Jersey.

   Benefits of the Google Transit trip planner include point-to-point trip planning using the  Google Maps format, in-depth information about a destination, scheduled departures from a station or stop and the ability to search nearby businesses, restaurants and attractions. A “My Location” feature places the user’s approximate cell-phone position on maps and shows the distance they are from their destination. The MTA’s territory is 5,000 square miles.

   Other public-transit providers have launched similar services with Google, such as systes in Chicago, New Jersey, San Francisco, Atlanta, Moscow and Tokyo.

   “Google Maps for Transit is a truly innovative marriage of information and infrastructure. It is a perfect example of how the public and private sectors can partner together to benefit us all—and it didn’t cost New York taxpayers a penny,” Paterson said in a statement.

Those interested in the adventures of local state Sen. Jeff Klein may be interested in a new post over at the NYC-centric Web site Gothamist about a run-in the senator purportedly had — literally and figuratively — with a city bicycling advocate.

This is a transcript of what Gov. David Paterson said in his five-minute address. It took five minutes to recite the 772 words.My fellow New Yorkers,

Our state now faces increasingly harsh economic times. When I travel across the State I see communities suffering. Everywhere I go I meet people who are losing their jobs and their homes. I meet families forced to pay more for gasoline and for food, while their paychecks stay the same. Next winter some of these families will have to choose between heating their homes and feeding their children. The rising costs of health care mean that they can’t afford to get sick. The rising costs of education mean that parents can no longer prepare for their children to be in the work force. The damage on Wall Street is affecting all of our communities and its effects on our New York State’s finances are devastating.

When I took office, I was apprised that the New York State budget deficit for next year was $5 billion. I immediately ordered cuts to state spending, but the situation has gotten worse. Tomorrow I will submit a budget plan that places our deficit for next year at $6.4 billion – that is $1.4 billion higher than it was just a few short months ago. How could this happen? It’s simple. Costs are rising steadily, revenues are dropping dramatically.

In the beginning of May, our budget director projected our New York State deficit over the next three years at $21.5 billion – that was a record. But things have changed. That number has now erupted to $26.2 billion – a staggering 22 percent increase in less than 90 days. (more…)