Mayoral hopeful Sal Albanese calls de Blasio a ‘limousine liberal’ who doesn’t understand MTA issues – New York Daily News

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Monday, June 12, 2017, 2:00 PM

Slamming Mayor de Blasio as a quintessential limousine liberal who cant understand straphangers woes because he doesnt take the subway, mayoral candidate Sal Albanese proposed hiking the citys capital contribution to the MTA to $1 billion a year.

The former Brooklyn city councilman and longshot Democratic primary candidate said he hopes to become the mass transit mayor, hitting de Blasio for taking two chauffeured SUVs from Gracie Mansion while largely shunning a subway system that has sunk into crisis in recent months.

He could show some leadership by using the train once in a while, Albanese said at a press conference outside Gov. Cuomos Midtown office, where he dropped off a letter offering to up the citys payments if elected. Hes a limousine liberal, basically. Hes someone who rides around in a limousine and tells working people, Hey, take the train. Thats Bill de Blasio.

He said the issue is more than just symbolic, since it stops de Blasio from grasping just how badly the recent spate of transit meltdowns have affected New Yorkers quality of life.

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Hes missing the fact the trains are packing people in like sardines. Hes missing the delays, the signal breakdowns that happen on a regular basis, said Albanese, who regularly tweets about his subway trips and said last week it took him an hour and a half to get to his office, when it should have taken twenty minutes. So, hes missing that.

The state, not the city, controls the MTA, a fact de Blasio is quick to point out.

But Albanese said the issue is serious enough that the mayor should dive right in anyway, and said the city should more than triple its annual contribution to the MTAs capital improvements, with the number one priority being updating the outdated signal system that frequently stalls trains.

The state has not done enough, Albanese said. Cuomo could be much more proactive when it comes to mass transit. However, hes holding all the cards, so you gotta work with him.

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De Blasio said last week hed have his reps on the MTA board come up with their own plan to fix the subway system if Cuomo does not, though he did not specify when that would happen.

The last time he answered the question, he said his last subway ride had been April 18, to a Midtown press conference on smoking.

The time is coming soon? Sure, so is Christmas. Bottom line is the mayor has neglected this important service. Hes been missing in action and totally kinda cavalier about it, Albanese said.

This is a bread and butter issue. This is not some esoteric issue, he added, saying the meltdown threatens the citys economy and its growth. Its also important to keep people in the city. Eventually young people who want to come to New York City will get disgusted with being stuck on a train on a regular basis.

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A rep for the mayor defended his record.

"Mayor de Blasio made a record $2.5 billion capital contribution MTA to support new buses, subway cars, signal and station improvements, while introducing a citywide ferry system, and expanding bike lanes and CitiBike. That's a transit record we are happy to compare with anyone," said de Blasio spokesman Dan Levitan.

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Mayoral hopeful Sal Albanese calls de Blasio a 'limousine liberal' who doesn't understand MTA issues - New York Daily News