New York Governor Kathy Hochul on Thursday justified her decision to abruptly suspend the congestion pricing plan for fear that prices of numerous goods, including New York’s beloved pizza, would soar at the expense of the middle and lower-middle class.
“Everything from the cost of a piece of pizza is going to go up because there’ll be charges imposed that’ll be passed onto consumers. This moment in time is not the right time to put that on the backs of New Yorkers,” Hochul said at a news conference.
The Democratic governor used the pizza comment as her most recent justification for stopping congestion pricing, which would have cost cars $15 during the day to enter Manhattan below 60th Street.
The MTA intended to start charging tolls on June 30 in order to raise $15 billion for improvements to its mass transit system. After openly endorsing congestion pricing for over a year, Hochul suddenly reversed course last week and mandated an indefinite halt to the scheme – a move that could put electric buses, accessible stations, and signal renovations on the transportation agency’s cutting list.
Since then, proponents of environmental and transportation policies have criticized the decision, and city comptroller Brad Lander has vowed to undertake legal moves.
