Governor Andrew Cuomo says he's trying to come up with "an amicable resolution" to the dispute over the Peace Bridge. Cuomo met with high ranking Canadian officials in his New York City office for several hours Saturday. During a visit to Buffalo Monday, Cuomo told WBFO's Chris Caya negotiations are ongoing.
"I want to get it done. But I want to get it done right," said Governor Cuomo.
Cuomo says after wasting 20 years talking about improving the Peace Bridge he doesn't want "just an agreement."
"I could come to an agreement on a telephone call where we come up with a paragraph of nice words. That accomplishes nothing," said Cuomo.
Cuomo says he is not interested in yesterday. All he knows is the situation is intolerable and can't go on.
"Anyone who's gone across that bridge and dealt with the delays, the asthma in the community. It could have been such a productive thoroughfare and it could have done so much good. It's such a shame in truth that we squandered this opportunity. And Buffalo, at the same time you're hemorrhaging people and hemorrhaging jobs. You had such an opportunity with that gateway and nothing came of it," said Cuomo.
The governor says he wants a real plan of action going forward.
"I'm the chief executive of this state. I want a management plan. I want an action plan. And I want to know what's going to be different in a couple of years than it is today. And I want to stop the inequity of the situation. I want to stop the lack of progress and actually have a real plan and move forward," said Cuomo.
He says Canada and Buffalo, though, have to want the same thing.
"You have two ends of the bridge. It doesn't work for anyone if the other side of the bridge doesn't work," said Cuomo.