Gov. Cathy Hochul is considering reinstating congestion pricing that was planned in Manhattan before President-elect Donald Trump took office, but critics hope the controversial plan will survive. .
Mr. Hochul had planned to wait until after the election to reconsider the $15 congestion charge for entering midtown below 60th Street, which political observers said would affect a hotly contested congressional seat in the Empire State. The measure is said to be to prevent backlash against Democratic Party members running for office.
Hochul “paused” the plan in June, but less than a week after the Nov. 5 election, legislative officials said he was considering a $9 toll.
He plans to announce a revised plan “soon” and aims to have it in place by Jan. 20, when Trump is inaugurated for his second term, people told the Post.
A bipartisan group of opponents is now claiming “I told you so.”
“Governor Hochul's sudden move to implement congestion pricing in New York City is a blatant bait and switch against hardworking New Yorkers,” said Ed Cox, chairman of the state Republican Party.
“Just a few months ago, she put the brakes on this misguided plan – clearly hoping to avoid a political backlash in an election year.
“But now, with the election over, she is bent on forcing New Yorkers to pay more taxes.”
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said congestion pricing “was a bad idea then. It's a bad idea now.”
“It's a new tax. It's a real burden,” said Blakeman, a Republican and close ally of President Trump. “This is a governmental and political mistake. I don't know anyone other than people on the far left who support congestion pricing.”
A bipartisan group of lawmakers held a news conference Tuesday on Staten Island, near the toll-filled Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, where they plan to fight the recycling plan. The recycling plan aims to reduce rush hour congestion and air pollution while raising money for the MTA's capital projects.
Republican Reps. Nicole Malliotakis and Michael Lawler are expected to attend, as well as Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella and other Democratic and Republican state lawmakers.
“No, never,” Malliotakis said of the reinstated congestion pricing plan.
“New Yorkers pay taxes to keep our transportation system running properly and not house the illegal immigrants who are wreaking havoc on our city. Repeal the congestion charge. Stop immigrant shelters. Shut it down. And use that $5 billion a year to fix our transportation system.”
Even suburban Democrats said it would be politically damaging if Hochul repealed and reinstated congestion pricing.
“She justifies the understandable skepticism that many voters had about the June moratorium,” state Sen. Jim Skoufis (D-Orange), who opposes congestion pricing, told the Post on Monday. spoke.
“Congestion pricing efforts need to be permanently halted and halted altogether,” said Laura Gillen, a Democrat newly elected to the House of Representatives for Long Island's 4th District. Long Island commuters can't afford to pay new taxes. ”
Kathryn Wilde, who served on the MTA's Transportation Mobility Review Committee, which recommended the $15 toll, said plans to scale back have been under consideration for months.
“Her office has been considering alternatives since June, and she has indicated that while she always intended to reinstate tolling areas, she may expand the size of tolls in stages,” Wilde said. he said.
“Her office is working to develop a plan that is consistent with the federal approvals currently in place and does not require President Trump's signature.”
Lawmakers who spoke with the governor's office confirmed that Hochul has serious plans to reduce tolls from $15 to $9, which can be set under the authorization currently granted by the federal government. It is the lowest price.
The lawmaker also added that the governor is considering other means to make up for the $15 billion to $16 billion revenue shortfall in the MTA's latest capital plan caused by the cancellation of summer plans.
Possible alternatives include raising the payroll mobility tax or internet sales tax, the people said.
Several lawmakers who spoke to the Post said they expect those details to be ironed out when they return to Albany next year as part of state budget talks.
Sources maintain that the MTA has already installed fare readers for congestion planning and that no further environmental study by the U.S. Department of Transportation is needed.
“[Trump] can't block it [from happening]. It’s unclear whether he can stop it later,” one Albany official said after taking office.
“Any form of congestion pricing is better than nothing,” said Rep. Bobby Carroll (D-Brooklyn).
“If we don't do it in the next 60 days, we won't have time to do it in the next four years,” Carroll said of the push to introduce congestion pricing before Trump took office.
President Trump has made it clear that he opposes congestion pricing.
In May, President Trump said, “I will end congestion pricing in my first week in office!!''
Trump's team declined to comment.
Hochul's office said the governor and Trump did not discuss congestion pricing during their phone call last week after the election.
“The governor and the president-elect discussed Penn Station, the future of the MTA, and how we need to invest and repair our transit system to make it one that New Yorkers can be proud of. We did not discuss the matter in detail,” said a spokesperson for Hochul.
A state law approved in 2019 allowed the MTA to impose congestion charges before rebuilding Hochul.
