Cuomo finally signals ‘surrender’ in highway-sign fight
Despite federal warnings, Gov. Cuomo spent more than $8 million to plaster state highways with “I ♥ NY” signs touting his upstate tourism efforts.
But that bill threatened to grow by $14 million — the penalty set by the Federal Highway Administration, which has complained for years that the billboards are dangerous distractions that violate its safety rules.
Cuomo & Co. have ignored the FHA’s concerns since 2011, when the state first started discussing the idea. Indeed, the gov even kept adding more signs in what amounted to a dare to the feds to do something about it.
Dare accepted: The FHA has now given New York until Sept. 30 to choose among three options: bring the signs into compliance, remove them altogether or face a $14 million cut in federal road funding.
Late Friday, Cuomo’s Transportation Department implicitly folded, announcing that it would replace all the signs over the summer, “repurposing” existing materials to comply with the federal rules.
The gov’s minions don’t have much choice but to do as he orders. But it seems Cuomo found that “my way or the highway” doesn’t work with the Highway Administration.