In his renewed bid for mayor, Andrew Cuomo is out with not such a novel idea, but to transit experts, a surprising one.

“Let New York City manage the New York City transit system,” Cuomo told NY1’s Errol Louis in an interview Tuesday. “Let us do the maintenance because the place stinks, literally.”

What You Need To Know

  • Andrew Cuomo’s proposal to have the city control the transit system is not new, but the MTA was created because, in part, the city could not financially manage the system because raising fares for mayors became a political third rail

  • Then-Gov. Cuomo shot down a similar proposal for the city to control the transit system in 2019 by then-Council Speaker Corey Johnson

  • The MTA as a state authority only needs board approval to issue bonds and raise fares. The city would need legislative approval for both 

He cited the ability when he was governor to remove homeless New Yorkers from the subways every night during COVID to clean the trains.

“Imagine if you got on a clean subway, you know, and it’s all doable during COVID,” Cuomo said. “Every homeless person off every train and out of every station, every night. Spray down every train, paid a little bit more and it was lemon scented.”

But experts say city management would create new problems, mainly that the state funds most of the MTA through dedicated taxes.

“So all of these taxes, although they fall on city taxpayers and city visitors, they have to be approved by Albany,” Nicole Gelinas, a.senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, said. “So politically, Albany is not going to approve these taxes and then let the city control the tax revenue. It’s just not going to happen.”

The MTA also issues bonds, and the city has a debt limit, which also requires Albany approval to raise. It would even need Albany to approve a fare increase. 

“Mayors were loathe to do anything to rock that boat. So for 40 plus years, I think we had that nickel affair. And then that led to disinvestment,” Eric Goldwyn, associate professor at NYU’s Marron Institute, said. “And then obviously there was this bargain struck in the late 60s with Nelson Rockefeller and John Lindsay to get the state on board.”

And more than that, there are memories of Cuomo’s management of the MTA. 

“He quite famously wanted to take credit for the subway when things were going well,” Gelinas said. “For example, during the opening of the Second Avenue Subway.”

 “You know who runs the MTA, the governor, has the majority of members,” Cuomo told NY1, speaking of the number of MTA board appointees in 2016 after the opening.

But by the following year, during the so-called “summer of hell” when subway service plummeted, a different tune.

“New York City owns the transit system,” Cuomo told reporters in 2017. “New York City is solely responsible for funding the capital plan for the New York City subway system.”

“I think this is just a symptom of the former governor really wanting to get some attention against Assemblyman Mamdani sort of being in the spotlight here and sort of trying to put out lots and lots of ideas and just trying to see what sticks.” Gelinas said.

Cuomo also shot down the idea when then-Council Speaker Corey Johnson proposed it in 2019.

As for the current governor, a spokesperson said in part: “Governor Hochul is not commenting on hypothetical campaign proposals, she is focused on delivering for the millions of riders who rely on the MTA every day.”