Gov. Cuomo announced that limited commuter rail service on Metro North and the Long Island Rail Road will begin at 2 p.m. today–and some subway service will follow tomorrow.
The subway service, he said, will be supplemented by a “bus bridge” from Brooklyn to Manhattan.
While he didn’t specifically say which lines will be back up, he did explain that there will be no service in Manhattan below 34th Street because there is no power for that service.
Bus service is back up and running fully today in the city, he said.
Meanwhile, three of the seven East River tunnels have been pumped and are free of service.
More service will be up and running ” on a day to day basis,” he said.
Cuomo appealed for continued “patience and tolerance” from New Yorkers.
He said traffic conditions in Manhattan are poor due to the closure of the Mid Town Tunnel and the fact traffic lights are still out.
“In terms of power restorations, we’re working very hard,” he said. “The situation is developing on a day-to-day basis.”
He said one of the major problems is still water in the tunnels, where the subway system and Con Edison infrastructure has been damaged.
“So getting the water out of the tunnels is probably one of the main orders of business right now,” he said
Cuomos said the New York Power Authority is sending 1,800 upstate utility workers into the downstate area to help with the repairs.
“These are significant challenges that we’re facing,” Cuomo said.
Cuomo, Sen. Charles Schumer and other federal, state and local federal officials took a helicopter tour around the damaged areas in the city, Long Island and Westchester County.
Cuomo said the attention now turns to “coming up with a real reconstruction and recovery plan, a long-term plan, that coordinates all the assets.”
