Broadband internet must be accessible and affordable
Today broadband discriminates by race and income. We have invested $500 million to successfully expand broadband access and 98% of the state now has access to broadband. New York will lead the nation in making broadband affordable, because
accessibility is not enough if it's not affordable. Without affordable broadband, people are not just disconnected, they are disenfranchised. Broadband must be available to everyone, everywhere. And in New York we will make sure it is.
Source: 2021 State of the State Address to the New York legislature
, Jan 11, 2021
Maximize mass transportation & add capacity
We have to minimize vehicles and maximize public transportation, mass transportation. You can't do one without the other. You can't say to people, "Don't take your vehicle," unless you have a mass transit system that they believe they can get on that's
efficient, effective and safe. You can't have one without the other. You have to do both. So today we're announcing a plan to add mass transit capacity and further New York City economic development.
Source: 2020 New York State of the State address
, Jan 8, 2020
Congestion pricing: extra fees for driving into downtown NYC
New Jersey drivers are used to heavy traffic getting into Manhattan but "congestion pricing" is something different, and potentially even more aggravating. State lawmakers in New York approved a first-in-the-nation plan that will impose fees on
drivers entering Manhattan south of 61st Street, possibly starting in 2021.
Under the plan, drivers using the Lincoln Tunnel and Holland Tunnel would receive a credit based on what they pay in tolls. However, no break would be offered to motorists
taking the George Washington Bridge, as noted by Gov. Phil Murphy in a letter to N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Murphy, in his letter to Cuomo, asked Cuomo to consider sharing some of the revenue with NJ Transit and PATH. According to
AAA Northeast, which opposes the plan, 80% of the revenues will go toward the subways. The Long Island and Metro-north railroads each would get 10 percent [while NJ transit would get none]. Cuomo had not publicly responded as of Monday afternoon.
Aggressive construction program on Tappan Zee Bridge
The first and only Democratic primary debate between Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his opponent Cynthia Nixon covered a lot of topics of interest for New York City residents. Geographically, the furthest upstate the debate got was the
Tappan Zee Bridge.
"The Tappan Zee Bridge as I mentioned-- we have the most aggressive construction program in the United States. We're doing more construction than at any time since Robert Moses believe it or not," said Cuomo.
Other candidates for governor, like the Green Party's Howie Hawkins, took notice. "Most of the debate was about New York City.
Those of us upstate were wondering if we're watching an election about where we live," said gubernatorial candidate Howie Hawkins.
Push tech-transfer from academia to commercialization
The economic challenge that continues is tech-transfer from academia to commercialization. New York universities are ranked second nationally in total research dollars spent. California is first, but New York only gets 4% of the nation's venture capital
while California gets 47%. We're doing the research, we've developed the ideas, we have the academic institutions; we're not making the transference to commercialization. That gap is what we have to fix and that's what we have to fill.
To help do that, we propose creating new innovation hotspots. An innovation hotspot is a high-tech incubator between the higher-ed and the private sector for startup companies. An innovation hotspot will be a tax-free zone. No business, real property,
or sales tax. If a business stays an incubated business; is located in that zone, they will pay no tax. That zone will provide one-stop funding and services--legal services, accounting services, all the services they need to grow their business.
Texting or using a handheld electronic device while driving is dangerous and has led to fatal accidents in New York State, often involving young people.
To crack down on distracted driving and make New York's roadways safer for all, the Governor and Legislature put in place tough new penalties for drivers who use electronic devices while behind the wheel.
The law has been an overwhelming success, increasing four-fold the number of tickets given for texting-while-driving violations in the one year since the new measures took effect;
bringing the number from more than 4,500 to nearly 21,000 violations per year.