Governor Hochul: “This event was historic…And I want to say this: Because New Yorkers heeded our warning, and when they could, they stayed home, and most importantly, they stayed off the roads, what had been described by myself as a potentially life-threatening event ended up being a time when people listened, they reacted properly, they took precautions, and no lives were lost. I want to thank New Yorkers for that.”
Hochul: “When the trains and buses of the MTA stop, the City stops – full stop. That's the result. We know that. And it is so essential that we keep these services going because people depend on it, their lives depend on it. And I'm really proudto announce that right now, full weekend service throughout the system is up and running. That is an extraordinary accomplishment.
Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul, with Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chair and CEO Janno Lieber, provided a storm update to New Yorkers as the band of heavy rain that caused flash flooding in parts of downstate moved eastward out of the state overnight. Although light showers may move back into the area throughout this morning and early this afternoon, rainfall amounts today should bring no additional flood threat.
B-ROLL of the Governor meeting with transit workers is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.
VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.
AUDIO of the event is available here.
PHOTOS of the event are available on the Governor's Flickr page.
A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:
Welcome to the MTA Nerve Center. This is the place where it all happens. And I came here with a heart full of gratitude for individuals who literally had to risk it all to show up to their jobs and to keep our city running. And so, I just wanted to take a few minutes to thank them and to thank our team here.
I'm joined by Janno Lieber, who you all know well, the Chair and CEO of the MTA. We've been in constant communication even prior to the first rain falling to make sure that our system here could continue delivering for New Yorkers as they continue to rely on that. Also joined by Demetrius Crichlow, the New York City Transit Senior Vice President of Subways, who has been intensely engaged in our storm response as well.
There are some New Yorkers who've never seen the likes of which we experienced yesterday in their entire lives. This event was historic. In some areas, it was record shattering. And it is the most rain ever recorded in a single day at a place like JFK – ever. Not just this summer, not this year, but ever. And the records are still coming in. We're still monitoring, the rain is still falling. And in some places, it'll be the most rain that has ever hit in 70 years.
And I want to say this: Because New Yorkers heeded our warning, and when they could, they stayed home, and most importantly, they stayed off the roads, what had been described by myself as a potentially life-threatening event ended up being a time when people listened, they reacted properly, they took precautions, and no lives were lost. I want to thank New Yorkers for that. They had a major disruption of their lives. Concern, anxiety, because their kids went off to school and would they be able to get home? Are they going to be able to get home from their jobs at the end of the day? Could our first responders, the nurses and doctors who need to show up in hospitals, would they be able to get to their jobs and get home at the end of the day?
So, it was quite extraordinary that this system that is the lifeblood of New York City, kept it all going. This was the kind of rain that was once unimaginable. I called them once in a century storms. But this is the third time since I was sworn in two years ago I've had a once in a century storm. This includes the historic flooding we had in the Hudson Valley this summer, which was deemed a 1000-year flooding event.
So it's Mother Nature at her most powerful. It was so bad that even the sea lions at the zoo tried to escape. Don't know what to say about that, but they're back safely. And of course, we know this is a result of climate change. This is unfortunately what we have to expect as the new normal. It makes us be more prepared than ever before. And it requires us to focus on resiliency to head off the horrific impacts that could be there if we’re not ready for the next storm.
We started warning New Yorkers about this the night before, giving them time, pre-positioning our assets, having the Thruway Authority personnel, DOT personnel, our emergency responders, our swift water teams. You don't call them to come to a region once the crisis has already started. You have to pre-position them, and that's exactly what we did.
And I want to thank all the first responders who did show up, including our swift water teams who made 28 rescues – 28 rescues in raging water to help save New Yorkers in the Hudson Valley and on Long Island yesterday. And thousands of utility crews have also been on standby ready to keep our state moving.
The coordination with the localities has been extraordinary, from the City of New York to our county governments, mayors, town supervisors, county executives, and working with our local fire departments and even the volunteers who showed up. I've been in constant communication with our teams as have my individuals.
We've been talking to Mayor Adams. I spoke to County Executive George Latimer. I spoke to County Executive Bruce Blakeman in Nassau County. Spoke to the borough presidents, spoke to Leader Stewart-Cousins. Her own community of Yonkers was hit hard. Spoke to the Mayor of New Rochelle and Shawyn Patterson-Howard. We talked to her about what was going on in Mount Vernon. So I've been in constant communication saying, “If you need National Guard, tell me. If you need more resources, tell me. We will make sure they're there to support you.”
But I want to emphasize how serious this event was. My first two weeks on the job as Governor, two years ago, I had not one but two hurricane events to deal with. This is the scale in terms of the water that dropped from the heavens during this torrential rain event that actually was the same as Hurricane Ida. The blessing is that we didn't have the wind associated with it that accompanied Hurricane Ida. But I remember that event like it was yesterday.
And my fear and why I had so many warnings out was that people in these basement apartments are so vulnerable that I saw the places where the water came into the door and there was no escape out the back, and people literally drowned in their homes. And one individual I met whose name was Junior – large man – said he just escaped with barely the last breath he could muster because the water had gotten up to here, in his home. He couldn't get out. That's why the urgent call – and I thank the media for getting this out.
The water starts coming, don't wait till it's up to your knees to leave your house. Just get out. Take your family. Take your kids. Take your pets. Get out before it gets that bad. So that was the experience I went through and I'll never get the images of those flooded communities out of my mind and the devastation, the pain that people experience. So we're going to continue to remain vigilant, give out the warnings as early as we possibly can.
And I also want to just talk about what the MTA did during this crisis. When the trains and buses of the MTA stop, the City stops – full stop. That's the result. We know that. And it is so essential that we keep these services going because people depend on it, their lives depend on it. And I'm really proud to announce that right now, full weekend service throughout the system is up and running. That is an extraordinary accomplishment.
To think that 24 hours ago, even 18 hours ago, we could have said that – that would have been in doubt. And I just walked through their control center and had a chance to talk to scores of people who had to come in here on their own. They have the same commuting challenges as everybody else in New York does. They showed up, they stayed around the clock, they consumed a lot of coffee and pizzas, but they got the job done, and making sure that we could get back as soon as possible. So all the subways are operational. Metro-North below the Southeast Station, Long Island Rail Road and the paratransit services are all functioning this morning.
But it's not just about our main focus, which is to protect the passengers. We had to protect the infrastructure of our trains and subways, even as the flood waters were pouring into the systems. New York City sewers can handle a certain amount of rain, 1.75 inches of rain per hour. Okay. We hit three inches an hour in many places, so it's always going to flood. But what they did, and Janno will describe more, that you have to reroute the trains around the problem areas. You have to be pumping, have the pumps in place in advance. It doesn't help when there's three feet of water to start thinking we should bring pumps in. This is what experience is all about. This is how we responded to this.
And so, I also want to thank our bus drivers. My God. At one time during the storm, we had 4,300 buses on the roads. At the peak, it was about 3,500 a little bit later in the day. What these buses did, and these brave bus drivers, the bus operators, was be able to give an alternative, a lifeline to people who otherwise would have been stranded. The last we want is ever for someone to be stranded in a tunnel. That is frightening. So when things are starting to look bad, the trains had to be pulled back into the station, passengers discharged. But what happens then? Where do they go? And that's something we dealt with literally by the minute yesterday to make sure that there were buses in place, enough operators called in to service them to make sure we could keep it going as well.
So these bus drivers were the true heroes. They drove into water not knowing what was on the other side. They knew their job was to get people to the next destination safely, and they did an extraordinary job. 99 percent of the bus routes continued during the storm, during record rainfall, 99 percent of the buses did their jobs. And it helped offset the impact that otherwise would have been more detrimental to our subways.
So the message for all of us, always be vigilant on the short term crisis, but do an after action report and see there's areas where we can continue to improve. I'll always push our teams to improve. But we have to keep an eye on the future. This is the new normal. We have to be vigilant, be prepared, but build resiliency into the system, make the improvements that we spoke about even right after Hurricane Ida and Janno will speak about some of those.
But also to strengthen our infrastructure, and to protect this way of life, to protect this city, to protect this region, we have to make sure we have the resources to continue making these investments. And that's why, once again, we'll be unveiling congestion pricing next year. And that is an opportunity for us to raise the funds, have the funds set aside, and the capital improvements, so we can continue making sure that we're ready for not the storms of 1,000 years or the storms of 100 years, but the storms that are literally coming month by month.
So we're ready. And with that, I want to again commend everyone here at this Nerve Center, everyone throughout the entire system of the MTA. You are our heroes, you are extraordinary, and you got the job done. And the leader of the pack is the one and only, Janno Lieber. Janno.