Mayor and Head of the City Transit System Meet ... Finally

New York City Transit President Andy Byford finally got a sit-down meeting with the mayor—though only after six months into the job at the helm of the city's subways and buses.

Byford said the two men discussed the impending L train shutdown, improving bus service and funding for subway improvements.

"I certainly felt that it was a good and productive meeting," Byford told reporters after the 90-minute discussion. "Words are great; actions are better. We've got to now see the funding ... to make this plan a reality."

Byford released his "Fast Forward" plan in May, though there are still no concrete funding streams to make it a reality. The plan, which is estimated to cost between $19 billion and $37 billion, calls for modernizing signals and tracks, making more stations wheelchair accessible, renovating stations and redesigning the whole bus network. (The MTA itself has not given any hint at what it might cost.) 

The state and Gov. Andrew Cuomo control the MTA and its budget. Cuomo has said he supports Byford's plan, and has suggested that congestion pricing could create a dedicated funding stream to help pay for the repairs.

Tuesday's meeting comes at the heels of a New Yorker magazine profile of Byford that revealed he hadn't yet had a one-on-one conversation with the mayor since he took over in January.

Byford said he and de Blasio have agreed to quarterly meetings going forward, during which he plans to continue dogging de Blasio on the issue of funding and other key issues.