Here’s one MTA countdown clock that actually matters.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo is refusing to convene a panel to review the MTA’s massive $51.5 billion construction budget before an end-of-year deadline — unless Mayor Bill de Blasio personally takes part, The Post has learned.
The four-member Capital Program Review Board includes a seat — and a veto vote — for one appointee apiece from Cuomo’s office, de Blasio’s and each chamber of the state Legislature.
But Cuomo named himself the panel’s chair and is refusing to allow any proxies at the table in place of de Blasio, Senate President Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie.
“Because one member can veto the entire plan, we should have principals, as opposed to puppets, on the board to act directly,” said a Cuomo insider, justifying the governor’s hard-line stance.
Stewart-Cousins has appointed herself to the panel, while Heastie’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
But Hizzoner wants budget aide Sherif Soliman to represent City Hall’s interests in the process — and Cuomo has dug in his heels, with Soliman remaining unseated.
That leaves City Hall without a voice in the review process of the five-year, 11-figure plan that would, among other things, allot funding to overhaul subway signals and replace train cars.
Barring a last-minute change of course, the budget will be approved with no oversight from the panel on Jan. 1.
A City Hall rep said Soliman remains de Blasio’s pick but declined to say whether he’d reconsider.
“We publicly provided input on numerous occasions about the capital plan, including presenting conditions to safeguard taxpayer dollars and raising questions about project timelines and cash flows,” said Olivia Lapeyrolerie.
Watchdogs bemoaned the lack of oversight.
“It’s not a process if CPRB doesn’t exist. Then it’s just a default mechanism,” said Lisa Daglian of the MTA’s in-house riders committee.
Added John Kaehny, director of the Reinvent Albany group, “In a healthy democracy, the governor would have consulted with the legislative leaders and the mayor about what they wanted to do.”
Asked for comment, a Cuomo spokesman pointed to an October interview the governor had with WAMC radio host Alan Chartock.
“This is not an elected official,” Cuomo then said of Soliman. “There should be some accountability and transparency and you should be elected by somebody.”
Additional reporting by Aaron Feis