(The following article by Ian Urbina was posted on the New York Times website on October 13.)
NEW YORK — Sheldon Silver, the State Assembly speaker, took a jab yesterday at Gov. George E. Pataki over the fact that Congress has yet to authorize the use of federal funds for a $6 billion rail link that the governor hopes to build from Lower Manhattan to Kennedy International Airport.
“We can expect more and more announcements like this,” Mr. Silver, a Democrat, said during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new office space opening at 55 Water Street in Lower Manhattan. “The place is right, the view is right and the transportation will be right. . . . Right, Governor?”
Mr. Pataki, seated on stage several feet from Mr. Silver, did not respond except to offer a wry smile and a slight nod. The two have sparred repeatedly in the past year over the budget and other issues in Albany.
The Bush administration has yet to secure approval from Congress to tap $2 billion that had been set aside to rebuild Lower Manhattan for the airport rail link instead. That money, called Liberty Zone financing, was meant to stimulate the redevelopment of Lower Manhattan after Sept. 11. But Mr. Pataki, a Republican, has been pushing Washington to authorize using it for the rail link, which the president supports.
Congress was expected to give the authorization in a corporate tax bill that was passed on Monday, but it was not included. Mr. Pataki told reporters that he was not giving up.
“We’re going to continue to push for it,” he said. “We need to have Congress appreciate what the White House already knows, and that is that this is important to the future, not just of Lower Manhattan, but of the entire metropolitan area.” He added that given the strong support of the White House for the rail link, he expected the authorization soon.
“The governor, together with Mayor Bloomberg, worked tremendously hard to get this measure approved,” said Lynn Rasic, a spokeswoman for the governor, saying he had reached out to numerous Congressional leaders last week to push for the proposal. “Ultimately, the governor doesn’t have a vote in Congress.”
But Jennifer Hanley, a spokeswoman for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, said: “Senators Clinton and Schumer were proud to get the job done in securing unanimous support from Republicans and Democrats in the Senate for the $2 billion for the J.F.K. rail link. It’s unfortunate that the governor and the White House couldn’t convince their Republican allies in the House that this was a priority for New York.”