This may be a good problem for New York to have.

New York is getting at least $2.24 billion as part of a national settlement with the French bank BNP Paribas, and the money will go into the state’s general fund for any number of purposes.

And there are plenty of needs, advocates for various causes said. School aid and infrastructure projects are among the ideas on how to use the money.

“The state has had lots of excuses for not adequately funding our schools,” Billy Easton, executive director of the Alliance for Quality Education, said. “This is a great opportunity to actually fund our schools, especially our high-needs schools.”

The money, which after payouts to New York City prosecutors, could reportedly reach as high as $3.5 billion to the state’s coffers as part of the $8.9 billion settlement between the bank and federal and state authorities.

The settlement is the result of company employees concealing $190 billion in transactions between 2002 and 2012 for clients subject to U.S. sanctions, including Sudan, Iran and Cuba. The money for New York will go through the state Department of Financial Services.

How to spend the money will be part of next year’s budget negotiations, Cuomo’s office said. The state doesn’t plan to use the money on a one-shot initiative that would leave the state short in the future, nor would the money allow the state to exceed its self-imposed 2 percent spending cap, his office said.

The money comes after the state faced unprecedented budget gaps in 2009 through 2011, but has since limited spending and seen a boost in revenue.

Cuomo has estimated that the state would have a $2 billion surplus within the next two years, and he plans to use the surplus for a property-tax rebate program.

The BNP windfall will undoubtedly help the state balance its books and spend money on some needed initiatives, some fiscal watchdog groups said.

The state’s fiscal year runs until March 31; the state budget is $137 billion – including more than $50 billion for Medicaid and nearly $22 billion for schools.

E.J. McMahon, president of the Empire Center for State Policy, said the $2.24 billion from BNP should be equally split between funding projects for the New York City area transit system and the state Department of Transportation for upstate road and bridge projects.

New York has long struggled with funding to repair and replace roads and bridges. A series by Gannett’s Albany Bureau in 2011 showed that 36 percent of the state’s 17,300 bridges are in need of repair.

The state Comptroller’s Office has estimated New York needs $250 billion for its transportation, sewer and water systems over the next 20 years. About $80 billion is unfunded.

The state is also building a $3.9 billion replacement to the Tappan Zee Bridge in the Hudson Valley and is borrowing to pay for it.

The state largely borrows to pay for its road and bridge repairs, and toll and tax money that’s supposed to go to a dedicated highway fund mainly goes to pay for state operating expenses.

“The top priority should be to find ways to permanently reduce New York’s reliance on borrowed cash to cover recurring maintenance needs and reconstruction of existing highways and bridges,” McMahon wrote on his blog.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino, the Westchester County executive, agreed that the money should go to infrastructure.

“The BNP Paribas settlement presents New York with a real opportunity to shore up its aging Thruway and MTA infrastructure and to fix a bad policy decision that has robbed New York’s roads of badly needed repairs,” Astorino said in a statement.

© 2014 Gannett News Service