It seems Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo are once again on speaking terms following a very public feud, but the two remain at odds over the latest issue roiling their relationship: funding for mass transit. NY1's Bobby Cuza filed this report.
The mayor made a statement Wednesday that wouldn't normally qualify as news: “I spoke to the governor a few days back."
Given recent animosities, though, word that Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo were at least talking might be considered a breakthrough.
“It was an airing of concerns, and I wouldn’t say a resolution was reached, but, you know, this is going to be an ongoing thing,” de Blasio said.
“He’s a friend. I’m known him 30 years,” Cuomo said.
Cuomo again downplayed the drama Wednesday, but also hinted he was biting his tongue, following the advice he said he once gave his father, the late former Governor Mario Cuomo.
“'You are the governor. In your job description, it says grown-up, are the first two words in being a governor. So rise above,'” Cuomo said.
The latest front in their feud is long-term funding of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which has asked the city to contribute $3.2 billion over five years. Governor Cuomo this week pledged $8.3 billion in state funds without saying exactly how he’d come up with the money.
“I am waiting to hear an articulation of what their MTA plan is, because we’ve only heard a very, very broad number. We need to know where is that money coming from,” the mayor said.
Cuomo says he'll make MTA funding a priority in Albany, however, and that in a $140 billion state budget, the money can be found.
“It’s roughly $1.6 billion per year, and out of $140 billion, you can find $1.6 billion when you want to, and I want to,” Cuomo said.
Cuomo, meanwhile, said he understood why de Blasio chose to skip his big LaGuardia Airport announcement Monday, noting he has much the same policy of not attending events where he’s not speaking.