Friend,
Recently, LaGuardia Airport achieved yet another recognition as the best airport in the nation. I can’t help but feel pride in this honor as the airport’s top-to-bottom renovation was the result of many, many, hours of hard work by members of my administration.
A project of this scale, in this city, on this small a footprint, during a pandemic, while CONTINUING to operate, wasn’t an easy task. Doing it on time and on budget felt like we achieved the impossible.
More than that, it was a demonstration that government can work. I’m proud of my team that achieved this and replicated it with other projects such as rebuilding and replacing the Tappan Zee and Kosciuszko Bridges, building the Moynihan Train Hall, overhauling JFK airport and completing East Side Access and the Second Avenue Subway extension.
However, over the last several years, we have seen a return to the bad old days: progress on infrastructure projects dramatically grinding to a halt, budgets are bloated and late, jobs and projects are conceded to other states, and new industries struggle to take root here as a result.
We should not, and must not, accept this return to the status-NO. I write about this sad state of affairs and how to reverse course in an op-ed published today in City and State. I hope you can take a moment to read it and let me know what you think.
As always, thank you for your support and your friendship.
Sincerely,
Governor Andrew Cuomo
