Contractors cautious about Cuomo's plans

After Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's State of the State speech earlier this week calling for a massive program to rebuild roads and bridges, it would seem building contractors would be ecstatic.

They are, but only if it really happens. Marc Herbst, executive director of the Long Island Contractors' Association, applauded the efforts of "three men in a room" -- Cuomo, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) and Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) -- in passing an on-time budget and coming up with a public-works initiative. But Albany has a reputation, after all.

"The question for LICA is whether that pragmatic approach to getting policy moved from prose to progress can be sustained," said Herbst. "I think both sides of the aisle recognize that we are truly in a state of crisis and if we go back to scorched-earth politics, we do so at our own peril."

Herbst noted that the state is suffering from its lowest infrastructure investment in three decades. Cuomo wants to replace 100 bridges, including the Tappan Zee, and repair 2,000 miles of road.