Not normal, but getting there, maybe. (Getty_

It has been a difficult few weeks for New York, to say the least, and that goes for the two men at the center of the recovery, too, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Governor Andrew Cuomo. Both men have worked tirelessly for the past 25 days, first preparing the city and the state for the approaching superstorm, and then helping everyone recover from the disaster. That job will continue for months, even years, but at the same time, life must go on. And for the chief executives of New York City and New York State, that process has slowly begun. And it all started today. Or so their public schedules would suggest.

The public schedule for the mayor and the governor is a sacred text, at least in news rooms across the city. Like the AP daybook, it is the document by which reporters set their clocks and live their lives. Normally, there is a mix of big announcements—a new budget, a new anti-poverty initiative, a ribbon cutting for a new park—and small appearances—a parade, a gala, a public policy conference.

Even before Hurricane Sandy made landfall, as the mayor and governor scrambled to prepare New Yorkers for the oncoming storm, there has been none of that, and certainly nothing since. It has been all Sandy, all the time.

From Oct. 26 through Nov. 8, Mayor Bloomberg did not go a day without holding a daily briefing on the city’s response to the storm, sometimes holding one or two. There he fielded questions on everything from the number of fatalities to the status of the precarious One57 crane, from the fate of powerless NYCHA developments to whether or not the marathon would go on.

Pretty much the same thing went for Governor Cuomo, though when he was taking questions, it was just as often out in the field, after handing out canned goods or surveying flooding in one of the MTA's tunnels. (Which is not to say the mayor was out in the field, he has just made a point of not making a point about it, eschewing cameras for one-on-one time.)

That is what made the public schedules for both Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Cuomo for today—or rather late last night, as that is always when these things show up in your inbox—so interesting. For the first time in almost a month, they have broken from the Sandy-imposed strictures of their schedules. It could be a coincidence that this also happened to happen on the same day, but we're taking it as a sign.

In the mayor's case, he will be attending two charity events later this evening. At 6:45, he speaks at the S.L.E. Lupus Foundation 2012 Life Without Lupus Gala, and 45 minutes later, he presents the Female Race of the Year Award at the 2012 Gold Goggles Awards. This is the first time since the storm, basically, that the mayor has gotten back to any of his old, pre-storm duties.

Meanwhile, for the first time in almost four week, Governor Cuomo finds himself in Albany, according to his schedule, and not in New York City, where he has been based throughout the duration of the Sandy saga. The governor did not host any public events today.

This is not to suggest that either man was anything but wholly focused on the continuing task of helping the city recover from the storm. For the mayor's part, his first public appearance of the day was just after noon, at P.S. 43 in the Rockaways, where he and Chancellor Dennis Walcott celebrated the opening of a dozen schools that had been closed by Sandy.

The governor's office was equally busy, making four separate announcements today: insurance assistance seminars on Staten Island today and tomorrow; disaster unemployment assistance had expanded to more counties; an $8.2 million grant for Project Hope, a disaster counseling program; and the impending launch of a Rockaways subway shuttle.

"It's true, we are back," Josh Vlasto, the governor's spokesman said of the administration's trip up to Albany, confirming that the governor had not been since the storm hit. "We are doing an event in the city tomorrow that's related, though," he added. Most of the work in Albany has been storm-centric, as well, he said, but the general work of government, of running the fourth largest state in the country, must also continue.

As for City Hall, Marc LaVorgna, the mayor's spokesman, made it clear that just because the mayor was taking an hour out of his schedule to attend to charity causes, the administration had in no way shifted its focus away from the recovery efforts. "This is pretty much all we've been doing," he said. "There's been some other day-to-day stuff, but it's mostly non-stop Sandy still."

Also, these two charities were ones the mayor especially did not want to miss. "We've cancelled an extraordinary amount of commitments for very good causes that we just did not have the time to do," Mr. LaVorgna said. "These are two charities he wanted to keep that commitment to. We've had to cancel a lot, but I think people understand what else is going on."

So, nothing new, at least not yet, and who knows when, again. Still no ribbon cuttings, still no big, or even little, legislative campaigns. We are still, in so many ways, in the eye of the storm, and the city and the state will probably remain there for months or more. But at the same time, just as it is comforting when the flood waters begin to recede, when the lights flicker back, when the difficult work of rebuilding gets underway, it is, in its was, at least a little bit comforting when when our politicians can find time for all the other tasks, great and small, in their vast portfolio. Life goes on, it must, one press conference at a time.

Maybe just not yet.

"We are nowhere near normal," Mr. LaVorgna said, sounding like a man who had seen much these past three weeks.

New Yorker's know that. And just like 9/11 and all the other disasters that have confronted the city in its four centuries, we are ready to try and get back there again, anyway.

The road to recovery. (Kristen Artz/Mayor's Office)

A storm from the tropics blew through town last week. It left wintry weather in its wake, along with a path of destruction that has left as many as 40,000 New Yorkers temporarily homeless. Half of them are expected to be unable to go home for weeks or months, assuming they even have homes to return to. Serious damage to heat and electrical infrastructure in apartment buildings and homes on the waterfront are among the most serious issues that have created a housing crisis for the city following Hurricane Sandy.

"Many of the fears we have is that with cold weather coming, we have to make sure people can stay warm," Mayor Bloomberg said at an afternoon press briefing. "Among the hardest hit are the Rockaways and Staten Island. A lot of places aren't gonna have electricity but are going to experience the cold. That is the next big problem for us."

At a separate briefing with the mayor and FEMA this morning, Governor Cuomo echoed the Bloomberg administration's concerns. "People don't like to leave their homes, but the reality is going to be in the temperature, and then we are going to have tens of thousands of people who need housing solutions right away, and a variety of housing solutions," the governor said. He added that a morning meeting with local, state and federal officials was mostly spent figuring out ways to house those in need for weeks or even months.

Temperatures are expected to fall to 37 degrees tonight in the city, with a high in the mid-40s tomorrow and a low in the mid- to low-30s tomorrow night. Areas on the water are expected to be even colder, with temperatures falling into the mid-20s in the Rockaways and Coney Island.

The mayor said that once power is restored by the various utilities, from Con Ed to the Long Island Power Authority, which provides electricity to the hard-hit Rockaways, many people will be able to return home to their houses and apartments with heat and light, bringing down the estimated evacuation count from 40,000 to about 20,000. But many buildings, even once power is back, will not be operational because of damage to their internal utilities from the storm surge.

"Over the past few days, we have been going block by block to identify the issues blocking many of them from getting the power back on," the mayor said. "We're resolving many of the issues one block and even one house at a time. Even when some of the power is turned back on, the buildings are going to be out of commission for a long time because of damage to their boilers and electrical systems."

Both the mayor and the governor are stressing that people without power should go to one of the city's 15 shelters for protection from the elements. The city has also set up warming centers to help combat the conditions. "If you find yourself shivering uncontrollably or see someone who is disoriented, those are signs of hypothermia," the mayor said. "You really should get to a warm place, covered with blankets, a hot water bottle, anything you can do to get them warm quickly."

A big issue has been for public housing residents, whose buildings are aging and have fragile infrastructure. "Some 45,000 public housing residents live in the coastal areas designated as Zone A, many of them in the Rockaways," the mayor said.

The desperation of the situation was underscored by FEMA director Craig Fugate, who made it clear that many more New Yorkers have been seriously effected besides those currently without reliable shelter. "Our administration numbers give you some sense of the magnitude, but right now, as of this morning, we have 86,000 households have registered for assistance already directly deposited into those accounts is $96 million," Mr. Fugate said.

Those numbers are only expected to rise in the coming weeks as people get power back and lives return to enough normality that more claims can be filed.

"We don't have a lot of empty housing in the city, so it's hard to find it when we need it," Mayor Bloomberg said during the closing remarks of his afternoon press briefing.

What, me worry? Not if we build the right stuff. (MTA/Flickr)

MTA chairman and CEO Joe Lhota has thrown his support behind Governor Andrew Cuomo's call for stronger infrastructure to protect New York City from future natural disasters like Superstorm Sandy.

This may not be surprising—after all, the governor is Mr. Lhota's boss—but their unanimity on the matter will lend extra support to the idea of improving the city's defenses against future floods and rising sea levels. That support is especially important when Mayor Bloomberg has so far dismissed calls for strengthened infrastructure around the city.

"We're going to have to evaluate what can be done to prevent it, because quite honestly, Lower Manhattan, the actual track is only 20 feet away from the entrance way, it's not that deep down there," Mr. Lhota told reporters at a briefing earlier today. "So we need to evaluate it. As the Governor said, we need to look at everything. And I think we need to look at what other cities have done, both in Europe where they've dealt with rising tides, as well as in Asia, where they've dealt with rising tides."

Europe and Asia—sound familiar?

Mr. Lhota stressed that this is not just a matter of protecting the subways, but also the entire city. " This is gonna need to be a concerted effort," he said. "It's not just the subways. There's a lot of property downtown. We all have to come together and figure out what to do with it."

That Mr. Lhota has now taken such a public position on the matter is important, because as the governor said on Thursday night, he thinks it will be the MTA's responsibility to fund and maintain any new storm infrastructure. This sounded like a joke at the time, but in some ways, it makes sense. The MTA is, after all, an agency whose primary role is maintaining infrastructure, and while it is most often thought of it terms of transportation, is a bridge or tunnel really that different from a sea gate or damn?

This might more naturally seem to be a job for the Port Authority, but Governor Cuomo is not solely in charge of the Port Authority—he shares that power with the governor of New Jersey—so were Governor Cuomo seeking to exercise unilateral control over a new maritime infrastructure system, the way to go about it might well be through the MTA.

Also, the agency has a history of building great public works. After all, one of its predecessors was the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, now MTA Bridges and Tunnels. That was one of the domains of none other than Robert Moses. So the MTA certainly has the capabilities.

And ultimately, it is their assets they have to figure out a way to protect, to make sure those subways and vehicular tunnels, as well as homes and business, never flood again.

They could use the work, as Mr. Lhota made clear today. "When you think about the subway system, when you think about the fact that it was opened in 1904, it's 108 years old, it opened in Lower Manhattan, it was designed, believe it or not, in the 19th Century," Mr. Lhota said. "They never expected the water would come up as far as it did."

In other words, it is time to start thinking about these things, even if our forebears did not.

MTA workers boarding up subway grates in low-lying areas. (Getty)

Update 10/28, 10:50: Governor Cuomo just announced that all MTA service will be shut down starting at 7 p.m. tonight. Full details from the MTA are at the bottom of this post.

“The transportation system is the lifeblood of the New York City region, and suspending all service is not a step I take lightly,” Governor Cuomo said in a statement. “But keeping New Yorkers safe is the first priority, and the best way to do that is to make sure they are out of harm’s way before gale-force winds can start wreaking havoc on trains and buses.”

MTA Chairman and CEO Joe Lhota stressed that this was the best decision for the MTA and the city and the agency was prepared to execute the work. “The MTA proved it can suspend service in an orderly manner when it did so last year for Tropical Storm Irene, and we have refined our Hurricane Plan since then to help us prepare for Hurricane Sandy,” he said. “This storm will batter the MTA, but the precautions we take now will allow us to recover much more quickly.”

The announcement came earlier than originally expected, which had been suggested would come sometime in the afternoon. This underscores the continued concerns about the storm and the fact it has yet to abate in strength.

Mr. Lhota said it could take until Wednesday for the system to be up and running again depending on the severity of the storm.

Original Post: As with Hurricane Irene, the MTA must decide whether to shut down the system before the storm actually gets here because it takes time to move the rolling stock to higher ground. This not only protects the equipment but also allows for an orderly reactivation of service.

The MTA is waiting until tomorrow to decide if it will shut down service or not, based on developing forecasts, but if it does, MTA CEO Joe Lhota announced today that the system would begin to wind down starting around 7 p.m. Sunday night, with the full end of service by 3 a.m. Monday morning.

Mr. Lhota stressed that people should plan their activities tomorrow around the possibility of a shutdown regardless of what the agency ultimately decides. A final decision is not expected until sometime tomorrow afternoon, which might not give riders time to make it home should they forestall their travel.

"If you're coming into the city tomorrow, plan accordingly," Mr. Lhota said.

Just because the MTA will be in some operation until 3 a.m. on Monday does not mean riders should wait to be on the move.

"All throughout our system it will be similar to what with happened with Hurricane Irene, or Tropical Storm Irene, two years ago," Mr. Lhota explained. "That won't happen until we get a go decision, sometime tomorrow, and then it will be started at 7 p.m. up until 3 a.m. So there will be inconsistent service until after 7 o'clock so I really encourage all New Yorkers to be where you need to be or try and be home after 7 o'clock because there's really no guarantee after that, it will be inconsistent while we're getting all of our assets under control."

The main factors driving the shutdown is flooding, especially for the subway, though high winds can also play a factor. This is particularly and issue for the buses, which have to stop for anything over 39 miles per hour, as this can push the buses around dangerously. The bridges are also at risk when winds reach 60 miles per hour, though who really wants to be out driving in those kinds of conditions?

The full advisory from the MTA is below (Update 10/28):

New York City Transit

MTA New York City Transit/MTA Bus reminds customers that all bus and subway services will begin an orderly suspension of service at 7 p.m. this evening in anticipation of the high winds and heavy rains driven by Hurricane Sandy.

These actions are consistent with our Hurricane Plan, designed to protect the safety of customers, employees and equipment, and ensure our ability to restore service after the storm as quickly as possible. Work has been underway throughout the weekend in anticipation of this possibility

The Hurricane Plan is designed to protect the safety of New Yorkers before, during and after the expected impacts of Hurricane Sandy. Instituted for the first time last year, prior to the arrival of Hurricane Irene, the plan allows customers to move to safety prior to the storm’s arrival, then protect employees and equipment before dangerous sustained winds of more than 39 mph reach the area.

Thousands of buses and subway cars have been pulled from service and stored in safe locations. Subway yards and bus depots that are prone to flooding have been cleared and that equipment sent to dry areas. Subway stations in flood-prone locations, such as lower Manhattan, will be evacuated of personnel and then secured.

Critical track-level components will be removed from under river tubes so that, if flooding occurs, they will not suffer from the corrosive effects of salt water. Prior to high wind conditions, workers visit elevated stations to make certain that everything is secure and not subject to wind damage.

NYC Transit subways and buses will run normal service until 7 p.m., with sufficient capacity to allow people to leave vulnerable areas or reach safe destinations before service is suspended. Most scheduled weekend construction projects have been cancelled to allow for potential evacuation and suspension of service.

Outbound Access-A-Ride trips are being scheduled only until 12 p.m. today, and return trips will continue until 5 p.m. Any previously scheduled trips after that time, including subscription trips, are cancelled.

The Staten Island Railway will attempt to continue to operate until the Staten Island Ferry suspends service, in order not to strand any customers in the ferry terminal. However, the railway will not operate if conditions are deemed unsafe.

Until the suspension is complete, NYC Transit will cross-honor Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road tickets to facilitate a safe trip home.

As soon as conditions allow following the storm, MTA personnel will evaluate damage and begin implementing its plan to restore service as quickly as possible while protecting the safety of all involved. Even with minimal damage this is expected to be a lengthy process that will impact service following the storm. MTA riders are urged to call 511 and stay tuned to mta.info and local news broadcasts before traveling.

Metro-North Railroad

As Hurricane Sandy approaches, Metro-North Railroad’s last trains on all lines will depart at approximately 7 p.m. today. This will allow customers to safely reach their final destinations, either northbound or southbound, and to suspend service in an orderly manner.

The service suspension will allow all trains en route to complete their runs so that customers are not stranded unexpectedly. Metro-North urges its customers not wait until the last train to get home.

Until the suspension is complete, Metro-North will cross-honor New York City Transit MetroCards to stops in the Bronx to facilitate a safe trip home.

The Metro-North suspension also will affect all service on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, which operates on Metro-North’s New Haven Line from New Rochelle to New Haven.

Service also will be suspended on Metro-North’s Port Jervis Line west of the Hudson River. Pascack Valley line service will be determined by NJTRANSIT. Customers should visit njtransit.com for service status information.

One train that has been cancelled prior to tonight’s service suspension is the Train to the Game, Metro-North’s direct service from New Haven to the 1 p.m. Jets- Dolphins game at MetLife stadium at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in New Jersey. The 8: 48 a.m. out of New Haven has been cancelled as has the return trip that leaves the Meadowlands at 4:48 p.m.

Grand Central Terminal, including its shops and restaurants, and all outlying Metro-North station buildings will be closed for the duration of the service suspension.

In preparation for the brunt of the storm, train equipment will be moved out of low-lying locations known to be prone to flooding, such as the east end of the yard in New Haven and Highbridge and Mott Haven yards in the Bronx.

As the storm approaches, Metro-North has secured its infrastructure by moving trucks, and equipment such as backhoes, cranes and bulldozers, to higher ground. This includes bringing trains into Grand Central Terminal for shelter.

In addition, the wooden crossing gates at grade crossings, which are susceptible to high winds, will been removed and secured. However, people should be aware that work trains and patrol trains may still be operating and approach all grade crossings with caution.

Also, a service suspension does not mean that power will be off to the third rail or overhead catenary wires on the New Haven Line. All tracks and wires will remain energized.

All routine track work and capital construction work has been suspended and all construction sites have been secured.

Parking lots that usually flood, such as the ones at White Plains and Beacon’s riverside lot, are barricaded. Connecting ferry service at Beacon and Ossining is suspended. The Hudson RailLink that serves Spuyten Duyvil and Riverdale is suspended.

As Sandy bears down on the region, Metro-North also is taking steps to put personnel and equipment in place to be ready to deal with the cleanup after the worst of the storm has passed.

Many employees have been asked to shelter at a Metro-North shop or facility so they can start helping restore services as soon as the storm has passed. If the railroad did not ask for this extraordinary sacrifice, many employees would be unable to report for duty because of trees down, roads blocked or flooded, power outages and other problems likely to arise.

Metro-North will provide information around the clock. Customers should visit the MTA website, www.mta.info, listen to the latest traffic reports and sign up for free e-mail alerts for updates.

Customers can also contact the Metro-North Customer Information Center by calling 511, the New York State Travel Information Line, and say: Metro-North Railroad. If you are deaf or hard of hearing, use your preferred relay service provider for the free 711 relay to reach Metro-North at 511. For customers outside New York State, call toll free 877-690-5114.

The following is a list of the last trains that will operate on Sunday before the system-wide suspension:

Hudson Line

-6:50 PM train from Grand Central to Poughkeepsie arriving 8:32 PM
-6:59 PM train from Grand Central to Croton-Harmon arriving 7:57 PM (this train is normally an express but will make all local stops from Yankees-E. 153rd Street to Croton-Harmon)
-6:35 PM train from Poughkeepsie to Grand Central arriving at 8:22 PM
-7:00 PM train from Croton-Harmon to Grand Central arriving at 8:07 PM

Harlem Line

-6:48 PM train from Grand Central to Southeast arriving at 8:18 PM
-6:55 PM train from Grand Central to North White Plains arriving at 7:43 PM (This is normally a Saturday-only train)
-7:06 PM train from North White Plains to Grand Central arriving at 7:59 PM -7:13 PM train from Southeast to Grand Central arriving at 8:40 PM
-6:55 PM train from Wassaic to Grand Central arriving at 9:05 PM

New Haven Line

-7:07 PM train from Grand Central to New Haven arriving at 8:59 PM
-7:10 PM train from Grand Central to Stamford arriving at 8:17 PM
-6:53 PM train from New Haven to Grand Central arriving at 8:44 PM
-7:03 PM train from Stamford to Grand Central arriving at 8:09 PM

New Canaan, Danbury and Waterbury Branch customers: all branch line train service will end with the last train operating prior to the 7 PM suspension.

The last Amtrak trains to operate on the New Haven Line will be 7:05 PM Acela out of Penn Station, N.Y. and the 7:18 PM southbound out of New Haven.

Port Jervis Line
-6:15 PM train from Hoboken to Port Jervis arriving at 8:23 PM
-5:27 PM train from Port Jervis to Hoboken arriving at 7:38 PM

Pascack Valley Line customers should contact NJTRANSIT for information.

Long Island Rail Road

MTA Long Island Rail Road announced today the plans for the system wide suspension of train service beginning by 7 PM on Sunday, October 28, in advance of Hurricane Sandy making landfall, for the safety of its customers, employees and to protect its equipment. Customers are urged not to wait for the last trains when making their travel plans.

Suspending service allows the LIRR to secure and protect its equipment and infrastructure from the strong winds and flooding expected to hit the Long Island on Monday, October 29. With the shutdown, train equipment – both electric and diesel – will be removed from yards in low-lying areas that are prone to flooding.

Until the suspension is complete, the LIRR will cross-honor New York City Transit MetroCards to stops in Brooklyn and Queens to facilitate a safe trip home.

A major and time-consuming aspect of the LIRR’s storm prep is the removal or tying up and securing of railroad crossing gates system-wide in advance of the storm to protect them from high winds. The LIRR has 295 railroad grade crossings system-wide – the great majority of which are on the eastern portion of the system. Since each crossing has multiple gates, a total of 690 crossing gates need to be secured or removed – a process that takes approximately 12 hours. Power to the crossing gates will also be removed. This process must be completed prior to forecasted sustained winds of 39 mph.

Train service must be suspended for the crossing gates to be removed. The LIRR started removing gates yesterday east of Ronkonkoma on the Main Line to Greenport, where weekend service does not operate at this time of year. Additionally, crossing gates will start being removed on the Montauk Branch east of Speonk today, October 28. As a result, LIRR train service east of Speonk on the Montauk Branch will be replaced with buses starting Sunday at 9

AM and continuing until 7 PM when the full service shut down begins.

Taking these pre-emptive measures before the full brunt of the storm arrives will help in the LIRR’s recovery efforts after the storm passes.

Last Train Departures by Branch

The following is a listing, by branch, of the last trains to operate before the shutdown at 7 PM.

Babylon Branch:

• Eastbound: The 6:40 PM train from Penn Station, due Babylon at 7:57 PM.
• Westbound: The 6:58 PM train from Babylon, due Penn Station at 8:12 PM.

Montauk Branch:

• Eastbound: The 5:41 PM train from Jamaica, due Patchogue 6:49 PM.
• Westbound: The 6:42 PM train from Speonk due Jamaica at 8:10 PM.

Ronkonkoma Branch:

• Eastbound: The 6:15 PM train from Penn Station, due Ronkonkoma at 7:35 PM.
• Westbound: The 6:40 PM train from Ronkonkoma, due Penn Station at 7:59 PM.

Port Jefferson Branch

Port Jefferson

• Eastbound: The 5:36 PM train from Huntington, due Port Jefferson at 6:25 PM.
• Westbound: The 5:42 PM train from Port Jefferson, due Huntington at 6:29 PM.

Huntington:

• Eastbound: The 6:51 PM train from Penn Station, due Huntington at 7:55 PM.
• Westbound: The 6:36 PM train from Huntington, due Penn Station at 7:39 PM.

Oyster Bay Branch:

• Eastbound: The 6:52 PM train from Jamaica, due Oyster Bay at 7:46 PM.
• Westbound: The 6:20 PM train from Oyster Bay, due Jamaica at 7:14 PM.

Hempstead Branch:

• Eastbound: The 6:42 PM train from Atlantic Terminal, due Hempstead at 7:35 PM.
• Westbound: The 6:19 PM train from Hempstead, due Atlantic Terminal at 7:12 PM.

Long Breach Branch:

• Eastbound: The 6:45 PM train from Penn Station, due Long Beach at 7:42 PM.
• Westbound: The 6:26 PM train from Long Beach, due Penn Station at 7:21 PM.

Far Rockaway Branch:

• Eastbound: The 6:12 PM train from Atlantic Terminal, due Far Rockaway at 7:05 PM. 2

• Westbound: The 6:50 PM train from Far Rockaway, due Atlantic Terminal at 7:42 PM.

The plan to hit up drivers for 14 bucks when they enter Westchester County (the bridge has a one-way toll system) is very likely a trial balloon, similar to the Port Authority’s plan last year to impose huge new hikes on its bridges and tunnels that connect New York and New Jersey. Governors Cuomo and Christie expressed horror and outrage, and the PA, as if on cue, immediately reduced its request, but tolls went up all the same.

That’s the likely scenario for the new Tappan Zee Bridge—the toll will be significantly higher than it is now, but it won’t be as high as the request. That’s how politics works. But here’s the problem: Government is making it increasingly expensive for commuters and commercial traffic, and that’s simply not good news for the city and regional economy.

Visitors from other parts of the country are invariably shocked when they find they have to fork over double-digit tolls for the privilege of using a bridge or a tunnel. Then again, if they find that fee shocking, they undoubtedly fall into a dead faint when they receive their first parking ticket. Welcome to New York.

It’s expensive here, but it’s incumbent on government—especially on quasi-public agencies like the Port Authority—to keep the cost of transportation reasonable. Agencies like the Port Authority and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority often act in an less-than-transparent manner, and the PA has strayed far from its core mission of providing efficient transportation facilities for the New York-New Jersey region.

If the region’s transportation agencies are more concerned with building real estate empires or serving as patronage dumping grounds, they do a huge disservice to the region’s commuters and, therefore, to the regional economy. Like it or not, New York City’s vitality depends on the willingness of millions of New Jersey, Connecticut and Long Island residents to make the often-tiresome commute into and out of Manhattan every day. Some Manhattanites sneeringly refer to commuters as the bridge-and-tunnel crowd, as if they are a lower form of life.

But if a significant portion of the region’s commuters decided that they were tired of being seen as a cash cow for unaccountable public transportation agencies, the sidewalks of New York would look very empty indeed, and the economies of New Jersey, Connecticut and Long Island would benefit as a result.

New York’s elected officials may deny it, but they have plenty of power over the region’s transportation agencies. Their appointees are on the agencies’ boards, after all. They have to stop playing games and get serious about keeping the cost of commuting affordable. The city’s economy depends on those out-of-towners.

Piercings to be regulated like tattoos (Flickr)

Both Hot Topic and Claire's outlets suffered a giant blow in New York last night, as Governor Cuomo signed a new law prohibiting anyone under 18 to get their ears pierced without parental consent.

"Mom and dad and the government are such fascists!"- All the tweenagers

The new law will take effect in 90 days, so watch out for the stampede of semi-rebellious sophomores as they rush to shove as many chunks of metal into their ears as humanely possible before they give up yet another right in the name of public health.

Governor Cuomo summed up his rationale for this move by explaining that "body piercing can result in severe health risks,” apparently missing the point that the (relatively) sterile environment of a mall kiosk is vastly preferable to what this new law has left as an alternative.

Which is to say that while it's true that body piercings can be a source of infection, they are far more likely to be so when pierced improperly and without the right health code guidelines that are required of the soon-to-be-illegal outlets, which actually use professionals with piercing guns and non-allergic metals. Compare that to your daughter's Juggalo friend from Spanish class who always carries around a bunch of safety pins and a lighter in his pocket just in case. And while they're already disobeying their anti-pierced ear parents, what's to stop New York state teens from getting a needle and some black ink for a sick star tattoo on their hip? It's just a slippery slope that ends with your kid getting high off of bath salts.

This law also does not set a floor for how old a child has to be in order to get pierced if their parents do allow it, so giving a six-month-old some bling is still not grounds for a call to social services.

Mr. Cuomo’s plan was so rooted in common sense and reality that perhaps it is no surprise that the senators found it objectionable. Under the governor’s bill, possession of 25 grams or fewer would no longer be a misdemeanor. That would have had an immediate impact on the lives of hundreds of young black and Latino men in the city. They are the most likely targets of the Police Department’s stop-and-frisk policy. When they are stopped, they are ordered to empty their pockets. If they pull out a small bag of pot, they are subject to arrest. And that means, of course, that they now have an arrest record—something they are obliged to reveal on employment applications.

It’s insane. Times are tough enough for minority youth—a recent study showed that African-Americans are not benefitting from jobs growth in the city. Young people of color with a rap sheet have an even tougher time finding a job. What a shame that the “rap sheet” might consist of a misdemeanor possession charge, the result of being stopped and frisked.

Mr. Cuomo recognized the profound injustice of the state’s marijuana law and the ways in which its application in the city is stigmatizing so many young people. The governor, it must be said, was not alone. His proposal had the support of Mayor Bloomberg, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and the city’s five district attorneys. None of them could ever be described as being soft on crime.

Yet the state senators from the ’burbs and hamlets of New York chose to put cheap political pandering ahead of common sense and simple justice. In this election year, they will go back to the sticks and talk about how they defied those scary liberals from the city who wished to unleash criminals upon a frightened populace.

Would it be unfair—unjust, even—to point out that so many of those tough-on-crime senators live in areas that are home to the state’s prison-industrial complex? True, a first-time misdemeanor offender is not about to be sent up the river. But in those upstate regions that rely on prisons for employment and economic activity, the very thought of loosening drug laws is heresy. Entire towns and counties upstate depend on the vigorous enforcement of laws for their daily bread.

The senators who brag about being tough on crime may have another, not-so-secret, agenda. If they support common-sense drug laws, they might have to replace their prisons with more-creative economic-development plans for their towns and counties.

That would require effort. Far better to simply enforce stupid laws and maintain the flow of prisoners.

Mayor Bloomberg and others believed in full and unfettered access to teacher performance evaluations. They made the case that transparency would only help the effort to encourage good teachers and weed out the bad ones.

Unfortunately, the governor and legislators decided to limit access to the data to parents, who will be able to review evaluations of their childrens’ current teachers. While that’s better than nothing—and bear in mind that the unions fought the whole idea of performance evaluations to the bitter end—it’s a far cry from the sort of transparency that Mr. Bloomberg and his allies sought.

Performance evaluations are conducted by public officials using public resources. The public, then, has a right to see the data. That seems simple enough. In fact, it’s already happened. Several months ago performance evaluations for some 18,000 city schoolteachers were released to the public and published in several newspapers. The world did not come to an end. Angry parents did not march on their local public schools (although perhaps they should have). Some teachers were embarrassed, but as public employees, their flaws—and their strengths—ought to be accessible to taxpayers, who are, after all, their ultimate bosses.

The teachers’ unions used every ounce of their considerable political power to prevent wide dissemination of the evaluations. Their success should remind us all that the unions remain a formidable obstacle in achieving genuine school reform. Some might have concluded that recent reversals, including the implementation of performance evaluations, had hobbled the unions. Not a chance.

Mr. Cuomo’s actions here are disappointing. He quite literally introduced the compromise measure under the cover of darkness—the bill was made public just before midnight on June 18. If he was embarrassed, well, he should have been.

Legislators were no better. The state Senate passed the bill after a “debate” that took up all of six minutes. Only one senator voted against. The Assembly’s debate was quite a bit longer, but that’s only because the union’s minions in the Assembly were not happy with the very concept of evaluations in the first place. Eventually, the Assembly passed the bill with little opposition.

Reformers at every level of government rightly demand greater transparency from public officials and, in fact, from private corporations as well. We all live with the effects of secret deals made in the private and public sectors. Transparency is critical in politics as well as in finance.

Limiting access to teacher performance data is a defeat for transparency. And for valor.

It’s clear that the committee has struck a nerve—it was able to raise $17 million last year, and it spent $12 million. No doubt you’ve seen the committee’s television ads, and if they seem like campaign commercials for Gov. Andrew Cuomo, well, that’s not a coincidence. Many of the committee’s leaders, including co-chair Rob Speyer, have close ties to the governor. The governor’s agenda and the committee’s are one and the same.

Here’s the problem: If the committee truly is serious about changing the dysfunctional culture of state government, if it is, in fact, in favor of greater transparency in political decision-making, if it really wants to set an example, it simply cannot continue to play by the old rules.

But it is doing just that. State law does not require the committee, a private lobbying group, to divulge the names of its donors. That means we don’t know who is giving money—and why. That’s the kind of culture Governor Cuomo has criticized, at least by implication, when he talks about bringing real change to Albany.

Mr. Cuomo has declined to call on the committee to release a donor list voluntarily. The issue arose when news reports revealed that gambling interests donated $2 million to the committee. The governor insists that the donations have had nothing to do with his push to expand gaming in New York.

We take the governor at his word. But still, as he surely knows, part of the problem in New York is one of perception. New Yorkers have good reason to believe that money talks in matters political. Mr. Cuomo said he is working with all sectors of the state to create jobs—“that’s what it’s all about,” he said.

True enough. But it would do a world of good if the committee announced that moving forward it will disclose all of its donors. The committee’s current donors should be encouraged to overcome their shyness by self-disclosing their contributions, but the committee shouldn’t force the issue for those who have already given. Instead, it should focus on setting new rules for new donors: If you give to the Committee to Save New York, your name and the size of your donation will be available for public inspection.

That’s how transparent government ought to operate. Moving forward, the Committee to Save New York should practice what Governor Cuomo preaches.

If you’re caught with a small amount of pot—25 grams or less—in your backpack, the penalty is a $100 fine (for the first offense). But if a police officer asks you to empty your pockets and you pull out a small bag of weed, you are subject to arrest on a misdemeanor. Why? Because by taking the pot out of your pocket, you exposed it to “public view.”

It just doesn’t make sense, especially when you consider the police officers routinely order people to empty their pockets during stop-and-frisk operations. Mr. Cuomo’s proposal will correct this inequity by decriminalizing possession of 25 grams or less in public view. Legislators should pass this measure quickly.

Mr. Cuomo’s proposal has been portrayed as an intervention in New York City’s controversial stop-and-frisk policing strategy, which civil libertarians, editorial boards and others have sharply criticized in recent weeks. Perhaps the measure will have some effect on stop-and-frisk, but the real merit of the proposal is the effect it will have on the lives of young people, most of them black and Latino, who have been arrested on the “public view” possession charge.

Police in New York City arrested more than 50,000 people last year for possession of small amounts of pot. Over the last decade, 400,000 people have been busted on small-time possession charges. Few, if any, major cities in the nation police marijuana possession as energetically as New York.

Thousands of lives have been altered, none for the better, as a result of this misguided crackdown. Young people arrested on “public view” possession charges have had to suffer through the booking process, find money to hire a lawyer, and, if they were convicted, forever possess a rap sheet simply because they emptied their pockets as ordered by police.

New York’s spectacular success against violent offenders over the last 15 years has captured the imagination of other police agencies around the world and literally has saved the lives of thousands of New Yorkers, many of them in poor neighborhoods. But the huge number of marijuana arrests no doubt has soured what should be a strong relationship between a successful police department and communities that are now stronger and more vibrant as a result of the city’s campaign against violent offenders.

Mr. Cuomo’s proposal would go a long way toward easing tensions between the city’s minority communities and the NYPD. That, no doubt, is why Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly supports the Cuomo proposal.

The NYPD shows no signs of scaling back its stop-and-frisk operation. But if the Legislature approves Mr. Cuomo’s plan, otherwise innocent young people will no longer be subject to arrest if they pull out a small bag of pot when they empty their pockets. That would be a triumph of common sense.