Meanwhile Back in Albany (v41)

Nathaniel Brooks/NY Times

We've finally come to the end of Andrew Cuomo's 2021 State of the State address, a four-day extravaganza (you can read Days One, Two and Three if you missed them). The last day focused on building a "new New York."  Here's the premise he put forth.

History teaches us that, when the private economy is lagging, the public sector can spur activity; when unemployment is high, the public sector can create jobs; and when interest rates are low, the public sector should invest; that only the public sector can build the common economic platform for growth, the foundation that all businesses rely on to prosper: our transportation system, our infrastructure, our broadband and our education.

It's a long-taught lesson, he said, but without focus on the "ancillary" benefits - a collective lifted spirit, a belief in the future, and how those inspire economic confidence and stimulus. FDR, Cuomo said, understood that, and the Sonofa Gov wants us to understand that, too. And, don't forget, FDR was a New Yorker, and New Yorkers understand big ideas, and build big things.

Our country has lost its ambition, he said. Other countries "developed around us," and built the cool stuff - the largest high-speed rail network (China), the longest tunnel (Europe) and even the Middle East is "turning barren desert into economic engines."

Once a world leader, this country lost the vision and political willpower to build boldly and bravely. We lost sight of the connection between today's construction and the prosperity of a thousand tomorrows. We chose to kick the can down the road - a road that was crumbling before our eyes. 

Here, though, we've got projects out the wazoo: terminals at airports, train station in Buffalo, bridges, a fully-connected east-west and north-south trail across the state, new waterfront development, cashless tolling on the Thruway, and more. In all, it's "the largest infrastructure program in the nation" and we're not done yet.

We're working on multiple projects in and around NYC: improving or building new terminals for buses and trains, and adding mass transit tracks; adding convention and exhibit capacity; freeing up building sites for commercial and residential development; expanding public spaces; and more, worth tens of billions in investment and 196,000 jobs.

And it not just in NYC; the vast area called 'upstate' is also getting a facelift. - Rochester, Buffalo, Albany, the Mohawk Valley, the North Country, the Southern Tier, and Central New York will be getting (or losing) roads, bridges, parks, educational facilities, medical facilities, sports and recreational facilities, environmental projects, and transit projects.

Altogether, including the new airports and roads and bridges and parks and housing in every corner of the state, and the visionary new redevelopment of the West Side of Manhattan, we are expanding our infrastructure plan to invest $306 billion in the future of New York. That's not just the largest infrastructure plan in New York history. It's the largest, most ambitious plan of any state in the nation.

It's exhausting just thinking about it, I have to say - but it does give me a bunch of new places to visit around the state if everything gets completed.

In closing, Cuomo went back to FDR, quoting from a fireside chat.

There is an element in the readjustment of our financial system more important than currency, more important than gold, and that is the confidence of the people. Confidence and courage are the essentials of success in carrying out our plan. You people must have faith. Let us unite in banishing fear. We have provided the machinery to restore our financial system; it is up to you to support and make it work.

And then, he talked about New Yorkers, and how we respond when times ae tough. In the telling of our resilience, he recited the first entry in a new Poetry theme, EmpireVerse, which I'll share later.     

The message in all four days? We're going to be fine. We're going to spend a ton of money, and get others to spend a ton of money, and we'll be a healthier, working, brighter and shinier New York when - not if - all of the plans come to fruition.      

Make it so, Number One.