House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Monday that Vice President Kamala Harris’ victory in the presidential election would be key to saving the cash-strapped MTA following the repeal of New York City’s congestion pricing program.
Jeffries, one of D.C.’s most senior Democrats, declined to say whether the federal government would continue to give billions of dollars to the struggling MTA, but instead said “that’s one of the reasons why who wins the November election will be so important.”
“We need Vice President Harris to succeed,” Jeffries told reporters at an event with MTA Chairman Janno Lieber in Brooklyn, where ground was broken on a project to add elevators to the Classen Avenue G station.
“If she succeeds, New York City will succeed and the MTA will succeed.”
Jeffries, who could become the next Speaker of the House if Democrats regain power in the next general election, called Hockal’s last-minute decision to cancel congestion pricing “the right response at this point.”
“I supported a moratorium for a limited period of time, but at the same time, we redoubled our efforts at the federal level to make sure we had the resources to undertake transformational projects like the ones being undertaken here,” he said.
Democrats’ control of the White House, Senate and House of Representatives in 2020 was a win for the MTA, bringing billions of dollars in additional revenue to the debt-ridden transit agency.
The federal government initially planned to contribute $7.5 billion to the MTA’s 2020-2024 capital plan, but increased its contribution to about $10.5 billion as part of bipartisan infrastructure legislation passed in 2021. That’s on top of $2.5 billion in matching funds for the Second Avenue Subway expansion.
Jeffries and other lawmakers in Washington will need to reevaluate how much cash will be sent to local areas when the federal government’s current five-year plan expires in 2026.
The MTA is currently developing a five-year capital spending plan spanning 2025 to 2029. Some financial experts predict the plan could cost as much as $70 billion to $80 billion over the five-year period.
On top of that, the agency needs to come up with another $15 billion to $16 billion to fill holes in its current capital plan that were opened when Hochul repealed the unpopular congestion pricing program earlier this year.
Haukle said last week he would postpone any major financial challenges until next year’s state budget discussions.
“New Yorkers need the fullest participation of Governor Hockle, the Legislature and leaders in Washington like Senator Jeffries to deliver and protect the reliable, accessible public transportation network we deserve,” Danny Pearlstein, policy and communications director for the Riders Alliance, which supports congestion pricing, told The Post in a statement.
