City Councilman Calls For Reimbursement After L Train Shutdown Plan Scrapped
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – With Gov. Andrew Cuomo putting a stop to plans that would shut down L train service, one City Councilmember is calling for cash.
Ydanis Rodriguez, chairman of the council's transportation committee, says the city should be reimbursed for all the work that's been done to prepare for the long-planned service disruption. He and other elected officials held a news conference Wednesday outside City Hall.
Watch: City Leaders Seek L Train Reimbursement
The shutdown had been years in the making, but Cuomo changed course last week, suddenly announcing new plans for the L train. His proposal to bring in new European technology would avert the 15-month closure while repairing the storm-damaged subway tunnel from Brooklyn to Manhattan, only requiring service interruptions on nights and weekends.
Rodriguez called "for the DOT to quantify the numbers of hours, to give the value to those hours" and "for New York City to be reimbursed any single dollar, any single penny that we have spent."
Web Extra: Read Gov. Cuomo's L Train Proposal
The governor's announcement has been met with mixed reactions, with many calling for more details on how the technology – never used in the U.S. – will work.
"As the person who owns the risk, as the person who will be held accountable by my bosses to make sure this thing passes off smoothly, I'm need to spend the next few weeks making sure we've thought through all of the details," Transit President Andy Byford told CBS2's Political Reporter Marcia Kramer earlier this week. "There are unanswered questions, we accept that."
"For a lot of people, they made decisions for their life a long time ago about what would happen when the L train closes and now they're finding out that it's a totally different plan," said City Councilman Keith Powers.
Some elected officials want the city to be reimbursed for planning, allocation of resources and investments made in anticipation of the closure. They also feel the new proposal should be presented at an oversight hearing for more transparency.