50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 595 Everything is about profit

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, as the superior authority of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, now wants to sell the entire New York subway system, which naturally infringes on the interests of many people.

Governor Cuomo already has advisors lobbying him behind the scenes, and their core idea is:

The management bureau has now successfully reduced its size by 80%, and the remaining businesses are all core projects that can continue to operate.

On August 1st, a week before the scheduled third auction, Sun Zhiwei received a call from Governor Cuomo, asking him to go to Albany.

Sun Zhiwei understood as soon as he received the call: Cuomo couldn't hold on any longer either. If he went there this time, there would definitely be a hearing-like interrogation session waiting for him.

He didn't really care about the subway projects that the vested interests wanted to protect; the key was that he himself wanted to benefit, and whether America was good or bad was none of his business.

Or rather, it would be better if it were rotten to the core. He's not here to be America's loyal subject, so he can't be biased.

Having figured things out, Sun Zhiwei quickly organized the necessary materials and arrived at the state government building conference room the next morning.

Everyone was present today, including the governor; they were all waiting for Sun Zhiwei's arrival.

In the past few months, everyone has witnessed Sun Zhiwei's abilities.

He successfully transformed the chaotic Port Authority of New York and New Jersey into the Department of Transportation, while bringing in $13.51 billion for the state government.

Although on the surface it seems that Sun Zhiwei simply sold some assets.

But there are no fools here. Everyone knows how to sell things, but the real skill is to sell things without causing trouble.

Selling a few hundred properties is nothing special; the real skill lies in selling those hundreds of properties along with their employees.

Because if any employee disturbance occurs, all cleanup and auction work will be halted by the state government.

The "Management Bureau" has always been there, so why hasn't anyone thought of tearing it down and selling it for money? They just don't know how, don't dare to, and can't do it.

There are now over 100 billion dollars sitting in the state government's account, and everyone here has the opportunity to use them. In the future, everyone will be able to take a bite out of this big pie, more or less.

We should remember where we came from when we drink water, and no one has any objection to Sun Zhiwei himself.

However, they also have their own interests behind them. The people behind them asked them to stop Sun Zhiwei from continuing, so as representatives, they naturally have to play a role.

Today's meeting was convened by them at the urging of Governor Cuomo, with the aim of getting Sun Zhiwei to finish the downsizing of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

After entering the office, Sun Zhiwei glanced at everyone present. He knew that if these people spoke first, he wouldn't be able to say anything today.

So instead of sitting down, he walked to the microphone at the front of the conference room and began his speech.

"Ladies and gentlemen, more than two months ago, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey was facing a financial crisis and was on the verge of bankruptcy."

"In order to keep it afloat, Mr. Como had to make the decision to sell LaGuardia Airport to obtain some funds so that the Authority could continue to exist."

"The result would simply leave the Bureau hanging by a thread, turning a death sentence into a suspended death sentence. It would still be a ticking time bomb that could collapse at any moment, thereby implicating the state government and even everyone else."

Everyone present agreed with what Sun Zhi said.

At the time, they had no good solutions to the problems of the "Management Bureau". Fortunately, Sun Zhiwei emerged and provided a new solution to this problem.

Seeing that no one objected, Sun Zhiwei continued, "Today, we are having a private meeting behind closed doors, not in front of the media, so I will speak more frankly."

"Among those present are heads of key state government departments appointed by Mr. Cuomo, and core advisors of Mr. Cuomo; they are all trustworthy individuals."

“Every decision you make not only affects your political future, but also involves very real interests.”

"Today, I will lay out the interests involved in this 'Management Bureau' incident for everyone to see."

"I won't go into the details of the industries that have already been dealt with. Let's talk about the key asset that brought you all together and led me to face this questioning: the 'New York Subway' project."

Just then, Governor Cuomo, who had been keeping a slightly narrowed eye as if he were detached from the situation since he entered, suddenly interrupted him and stood up.

He looked everyone back with a stern gaze, then said firmly, "This is absolutely not an interrogation."

"No matter what, Mr. James is my core advisor, and I will never allow anyone to harm or question him. Do you all understand?"

Upon hearing his words, everyone present fell silent, and none of the key figures behind the scenes dared to meet his gaze.

Sun Zhiwei was completely unprepared for Cuomo's sudden outburst and the words he uttered.

When he entered the conference room and saw Cuomo sitting there silently, he initially thought that Cuomo was planning to abandon him after using him.

So he didn't say anything to Cuomo and went straight up on stage to begin his speech.

But judging from the current situation, it seems that Governor Cuomo did have his objections.

If that's the case, then we can take another ride on this ship, after all, in the original history, he was a formidable figure who served three consecutive terms as governor of New York.

Being able to find shelter on this large ship at least made his initial journey much easier.

Sun Zhiwei responded to Cuomo's friendliness by nodding to him and expressing his gratitude for the verbal support.

Upon seeing this, Cuomo nodded with satisfaction, and then slowly sat down.

Sun Zhiwei then continued, “The total cost of the New York Subway exceeded $1000 billion, and it also generates tens of billions of dollars in revenue and almost the same amount in operation and maintenance every year.”

“In the past, none of you in our state government would have received a single penny of this money; it all belonged to those who had vested interests.”

“I heard that the previous governor shamelessly asked them for $3 million because of this matter.”

"Although the other party eventually paid the money, they recorded it as a processing fee to the state government on the bill."

"If this obviously problematic expense item is exposed by the media, I wonder how much the previous governor will have to pay to smooth things over."

"I'm using this example to tell you that those people just want to spend a little money to settle things with you so they can continue to monopolize the huge profits of the New York Subway."

At that moment, someone suddenly interjected, "Doesn't the New York subway lose money every year?"

Sun Zhiwei glanced at him and, seeing it was an unfamiliar face, didn't bother to find out who he was, and continued speaking based on what he had said:
"Everyone knows that urban subways are generally a loss-making project, but why do cities continue to build and operate subways?"

(End of this chapter)