At the news that New York State Governor Kathy Hochul would be working to revive congestion pricing in Manhattan, came the bipartisan warning: let her reintroduce it at her peril, we will sink it. Democratic and Republican legislators met in Staten Island to agree on next steps.
During a meeting in Albany, Hochul said that she has been in contact with “the White House, the Federal Highway Administration, [President Joe] Biden’s chief of staff, Secretary [Pete] Buttigieg since June,” as reported by CBS News. The governor plans to reduce the $15 toll approved by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to $9. According to rumors from the Gothamist, which interviewed four inside sources, the MTA board is set to accept the new proposal on Nov. 20, during the next meeting, so that Hochul can revive the program by Dec. 29.
However, even this new proposal clashes with the opinion of Democrats and Republicans.
Hoping that the Republican majority in Washington would ax the funds that MTA would use to cover $15 billion in renovations, the bipartisan group that met on Staten Island drafted a bill, the Anti-Congestion Tax Act, to prevent federal intervention.
“Gov. Hochul can do all she wants over the next two months to try and jam this through and in the end, this program will be dead, period,” said Republican Congressman Mike Lawler ominously. And Republican Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis also joined in: “We urge the governor to look within her own budget and prioritize spending so it actually goes towards the things that people deserve and want.”
The same goes for the Democrats. “We’ve seen what just happened across the country. This is not what people want. This is the worst of politics,” warned Democratic Staten Island and Brooklyn state Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton.
However, Hochul remains firm on her position. “The loudest voices do not get me to change my opinion. I am firm in my belief that I am a fighter for New Yorkers. I will endure the lawsuits, the ads, the criticism.”
Whatever Hochul’s decision, the program will have to receive approval from the Federal Highway Administration, one of the federal bureaus in the Department of Transportation that deals with the highway system, which is currently controlled by the Biden administration. If the office signs off in favor of congestion pricing, it may be harder than expected for the new Trump administration to dismantle it.
