We're still making improvements to the system and assessing it, but everything is being done with long-term use in mind.

I tell my parents, 'The university just raised a billion dollars,' and their jaws just drop. It's validation of what we already are and an investment in what we are going to become.

Based on further evidence, our geo-technical experts concluded that the digging will not be needed.

Making it easier for people to travel throughout the metropolitan region includes giving them confidence about knowing how to use mass transit. And because thousands of people travel in and out of New York City every day to the Hudson Valley, Connecticut and New Jersey, it makes perfect sense for us to take a broad, regional approach.

What happens is the color simply fades away and blends into the background.

I'm just myself. That's the best way to put it.