Photo Courtesy of State Department of Transportation
The Kew Gardens Interchange Project is part of the current $100 billion infrastructure plan. The $150 billion initiative that Gov. Cuomo recently announced will kick off in Fiscal Year 2020.
By Forum Staff
Governor Andrew Cuomo on Thursday announced a $150 billion infrastructure plan for the next five years.
Cuomo called it an “historic commitment” to transportation, the environment, the economic and community development, education and housing to construct a “New New York.”
The investment in the Empire State’s capital assets builds on NY’s existing $100 billion infrastructure initiative, and is projected to generate 675,000 new jobs.
“After a half century of neglect and inaction, New York is once again building for the future, and our infrastructure investments are already creating hundreds of thousands of jobs,” the governor said. “This record commitment to infrastructure, which builds on our already thriving $100 billion program, will drive our momentum forward and demonstrates yet again that with vision and ambition, New York is setting an example for the rest of the nation to follow.”
The new $150 billion plan will be funded by a combination of state, federal, local government, public authority, and private investment. State debt will remain at affordable levels and within the statutory debt limit, Cuomo pledged.
Some of the infrastructure initiatives that will be funded by the new $150 billion plan include:
• $66 billion for transportation, including mass transit, railroads, airports, highways, and bridges and tunnels across the state to create the infrastructure system that will support economic growth through the 21st century, including John F. Kennedy International Airport—Van Wyck Expressway Phases 2 & 3; and major upgrades to the subway system and Metropolitan Transportation Authority capital assets.
• $9 billion to further the State’s investment in the construction of affordable housing.
• $19 billion to help school districts build new and better school buildings.
• $13 billion to improve and maintain SUNY and CUNY buildings, the State’s health care facilities and other capital assets.
The Cuomo administration also boasted that New Yorkers are already benefiting from the capital assets funded through the current $100 billion infrastructure plan: the Mario Cuomo Bridge; the 2nd Avenue Subway; downtown revitalizations and water infrastructure projects across the state. These initiatives are supporting the creation of approximately 450,000 jobs and contribute New York’s all-time high job count. Since Cuomo took office, the state’s economy has experienced employment growth in 76 of the past 88 months.
The current $100 billion infrastructure plan includes:
• The massive Kew Gardens Interchange project
• Roads and Bridges
• Kosciuszko Bridge
• Reimagining JFK Airport
• LaGuardia Airport
• LaGuardia AirTrain
• Housing Plan Capital
• MTA Bridges and Tunnels Plan
• Hospital Capital
• Clean Water Infrastructure
• LIRR Transformation
• Parks Capital Program
• Willets Point Station Complex
