Statement of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA
to the Board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority
on the Five-year Anniversary of Superstorm Sandy
Board Room, MTA Headquarters, 2 Broadway, New York, NY
October 25, 2017
This week marks the fifth anniversary of Superstorm Sandy, which struck our region on October 29, 2012. The storm damaged our transportation system in ways that we had previously not imagined would result from a coastal storm. Today you’re voting on a program of projects, including Sandy-related ones, that are proposed for federal funding. Much remains to be done to both repair remaining damage and protect the system against future damage, but we want to express our appreciation for the progress that the MTA and its agencies have made and encourage you to continue to move forward with mitigation and harden the system.
From immediate responses including reactivating the subways, buses, and commuter rail systems and the operation of a bus bridge to Brooklyn, to reconstruction of tracks and equipment such as on the A line in the Rockaways and the Montague tubes carrying the R line, to restoration and hardening work on the South Shore of Long Island and on Metro-North’s Hudson line, to the work that is underway and planned on the 2 and 3 lines and the L line, to the many efforts across the MTA agencies to reduce the impact of future storms, much has been accomplished but much remains to be done.
I do want to say, however, that the MTA and its agencies have worked effectively to restore the system and prepare it for the future with minimum disruption necessary for its riders. The men and women of the MTA can be proud of what has been accomplished in the past five years and we thank them for their hard work.
Download here: 102517 PCAC Five Years Since Sandy