Speaking Wednesday morning on the show Capitol Pressroom from WCNY public radio in Syracuse, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo continued his push to convince the city to help close the MTA's capital budget gap.

His argument: despite what you might have heard growing up, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is not controlled by the state. 

During the radio interview, host Susan Arbetter asked the governor where the state was going to get the $8.3 billion he committed to the MTA for its five-year capital plan last week. "We have about a $140 billion budget," he said. "We make priorities. The top priority is going to be to fund this project."

He went on to say that "this is a worthwhile investment and I'm sure we can find the funds if we make it a priority, and I'm going to make it a priority."

Arbetter then asked Cuomo why the city should contribute more.

"Most of the work under this capital plan is in New York City," Cuomo said.

"But isn't the MTA a state entity?" she asked.

"It's not, actually," the governor responded. "The city has four appointments. The state has six appointments [to the MTA board]. There are something like 17 members. So it is a metropolitan, downstate region. Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester. But in this capital plan, the predominance of the money goes to New York City. And the predominance of the riders are New York City."

(Cuomo neglected to add that the city and counties merely recommend board members; they are actually appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate. What's more: the authority's chairman and chief executive is appointed by the governor.)

He continued: "So that's where the MTA came up with the rationale [of] $8 billion for the state, $3 billion for the city. Frankly, I could argue that the MTA is asking too much from the state from my point of view. But I think it's important, I want to get it done, I want to break the impasse."

On Tuesday, MTA chief Thomas Prendergast followed up on that by formally requesting $3.2 billion from the city in a letter to Mayor Bill de Blasio. 

Mayor de Blasio, speaking at an unrelated event Wednesday, reiterated that he wouldn't fling open the city's coffers until he got more information.

"I spoke to the governor a few days back," he said. "But I'm waiting to hear an articulation of what their MTA plan is, because we've only heard a very, very broad number. We need to know where that money's coming from, what will it mean for the future of the MTA in general, and then we can weigh the plan. But we can't do that until the blanks are filled in."

The de Blasio administration has repeatedly pointed out that the city had already increased its capital contribution. The administration had previously voiced its displeasure over the city's lack of control over MTA leadership.

"Our teams are communicating all the time," the mayor added," and we've made very clear that we need to understand that proposal more."