Wednesday Headlines: I Can’t Amtrak Your Logic Edition

So upstate New York is not, in fact, getting an expanded Metro-North line from New York City to Albany.

Amtrak decided that it didn’t want any help servicing commuters traveling between the city and the capital and will no longer share its tracks with the MTA. After miraculously finding the necessary equipment to resume the Empire Service in full, it reneged on an agreement to allow the Metro-North to run trains on its lines.

Hochul didn’t say an expansion of the commuter rail service north of Poughkeepsie was impossible in the future, but unless the state rolls up its sleeves and gets tough with Amtrak, the proposal is essentially dead.

There is still enthusiasm on either end of the Hudson Valley about finding a way forward, but as Blondie lead singer Debbie Harry sang all those years ago, “Dreaming is free.”

The thing is, Amtrak hasn’t explained why Metro-North can’t share its tracks. Could it be because Metro-North was expected to offer cheaper service…?

You can get the full scoop here.

While this about-face played out on the second floor, state lawmakers hosted officials and stakeholders across the street in the Legislative Office Building (the cool kids call it “the L.O.B.”) for a budget hearing on Parks and Agriculture.

These important but lengthy hearings help inform lawmakers as each chamber of the state Legislature readies its budget rebuttals. In this case, they heard about the state of New York’s agriculture industry and parks, including proper funding and access to greenways.

By the time they got out, it was getting dark. Civically engaged citizens of New York, you are both invited and warned.

And don’t forget:

In other news:

• President Trump’s delay on Gateway Tunnel funding could halt the project and cost jobs. (Gothamist)
• And the same president is killing the Second Avenue Subway, too. (Streetsblog)
• New York could lose two seats in the next round of redistricting based on its stagnant population growth (what growth?). (The Times Union)
• Speaking of how cities get rid of snow, here’s how Japan does it. (The Autopian)
• Inconceivable! AOC has joined Gov. Hochul’s foolish, Uber-led campaign to lower car insurance premiums by denying crash victims proper compensation. How did progressive leaders like her and Mayor Mamdani end up so wrong about such a disastrous policy? (Julie Menin via X)
• Meanwhile, Kevin Duggan was on Radio Catskill talking about the bid to lower car insurance on the backs of crash victims.
• Monroe Avenue is slated for a road diet between Rochester and Brighton to the delight of advocates. (WXXI)
• Let’s celebrate, anew, the Vision Zero success of Hoboken. (Reasons to be Cheerful)
• Infrastructure is a wrap, now it’s time for speeding as Rochester aims for safer streets, Kent Gardner writes. (The Rochester Beacon)
• If you’ve ever screamed expletives as a car rides your ass attempting to speed recklessly, you are right: That driver is a dangerous idiot. (Newsday)