new york's wastebasket

New York State to Scrap Its Shame and Sell It

The actual trains that will be scrapped are more pathetic looking than this vintage passenger train. Photo: Michael Neary

New Yorkers will soon have the opportunity to buy a piece of scrap metal from one of four rusting passenger trains, relics of a $70 million plan to improve rail transportation between the city and Albany. Former Governor George Pataki initiated the failed project yet the trains are Andrew Cuomo’s problem. Storage for the “rotting and obsolete” symbols of failure have cost taxpayers $150,000 a year since 2004. “They are basically rusting hulks at this point,” said Howard Glaser, Cuomo’s director of state operations. “These trains may be the most expensive planters in the world.” Howard Glaser, also the state’s worst pitchman, once again: “There are weeds that are actually growing right through them.”

New York State to Scrap Its Shame and Sell It