Cuomo: Ambitious Public Works Can Jumpstart Economy
As New York begins reopening, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said that intensifying work on a number of major government initiatives could contribute to jumpstarting the state economy.
After ringing the bell for the reopening of the New York Stock Exchange in Manhattan, Cuomo said during his daily briefing on COVID-19 that work on major public projects in New York should intensify.
“We want that economy to come roaring back,” Cuomo said. “That’s not going to happen just by wishing it to be so.”
Cuomo said he feared large corporations would not rehire laid off workers, using the pandemic as an excuse to “get lean.”
But New York government can play a role in getting people back to work, he said, including accelerating construction work on the revitalization of Penn Station in Manhattan; LaGuardia Airport in Queens; a proposed train that would run to LaGuardia; the 2nd Avenue subway line in Manhattan; the cross-Hudson tunnels used by Amtrak trains to New York City; and on renewable power projects in upstate New York that would feed the downstate power grid, including a proposed submarine power cable project that would run from Canada to New York City.
An enormous state budget deficit, spurred in part by the economic slowdown of COVID-19, could complicate those efforts. Cuomo, who is seeking more federal support for New York, said he is meeting tomorrow with President Donald J. Trump to discuss restarting the economy.
“You tell me what the federal government does, I will tell you what the state budget looks like,” Cuomo said.
Cuomo also unveiled the winners of a contest, conceived by his daughter Michaela, to create public service announcements encouraging the wearing of masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The top two ads from the contest, which drew more than 186,000 votes, will both be used by New York, since the top recipients were separated by only 500 votes.
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