New York governor floats infrastructure projects to reboot economy

NEW YORK, May 27 — New York Governor Andrew Cuomo yesterday floated a number of major infrastructure projects to reboot the US economy post-pandemic, saying he would raise the issue at a meeting today with President Donald Trump.

“Let's do something creative, let's do it fast. Let's put Americans back to work,” Cuomo said at his daily briefing, held specially at the New York Stock Exchange which opened for the first time since March 23.

“You don't need to be a government expert or an engineer to figure out. It's common sense,” he said.

“You have an infrastructure that's crumbling, you need to jumpstart the economy, you need to create jobs — do it now.”

Among his examples were building projects considered for many years pre-pandemic, including subway extensions, improving public transportation between the city and its airports, and developing renewable energy.

Coronavirus ravaged the state of New York and left it with a gloomy financial outlook, leaving a US$13 billion (RM56.7 billion) budget deficit.

Cuomo urged a partnership with the federal government to launch publics works projects — which he plans to discuss with Trump in Washington today — pointing to examples like the Hoover Dam, built in the 1930s during the Great Depression.

The pandemic has left nearly 100,000 people dead in the United States, as some 40 million Americans filed unemployment claims. The jobless rate has jumped to almost 15 per cent. — Reuters