MTA Head To Investigate Why Train Apparently Was Held For De Blasio

NEW YORK CITY, NY – As Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio feud over the subways, the head of the MTA plans to investigate the reason why a subway was held in the City Hall station during a press conference the mayor gave on Tuesday.

At the end of the underground press conference, de Blasio dramatically hopped on a Brooklyn-bound R train.

Documents obtained by the Daily News showed the train was held for 3 minutes and 20 seconds around the time de Blasio boarded, with an MTA dispatcher listing a “police check” as the reason for the delay.

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MTA Chairman Joe Lhota, a Cuomo appointee who ran for mayor against de Blasio, on Thursday blasted his one-time opponent over the incident.

“No train should be held for any citizen regardless of their status,” Lhota said, according to reports. “The trains are for everyone and they need to accordingly be used for everyone.”

“I’m going to need to investigate what I read in the paper this morning, because it’s unacceptable,” he continued. “No one should stop a train for a single individual to get on. This is an equal system. It’s not one over another. Causing a delay is what I want to avoid in every possible way.”

After initially denying that the train had been held for de Blasio Tuesdsay night, City Hall spokesman Eric Phillips changed his tune as documents confirming the delay came out.

“If for (some) reason the train was being held, it certainly wasn’t being held by us,” he told the Daily News. “We don’t run the subways.”

Lead image of Joe Lhota on July 18 by Shant Shahrigian/Patch.