New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Wednesday that she was suspending the long-awaited toll plan, known as congestion pricing, just weeks before it takes effect.
“After careful consideration, I have made the difficult decision that implementing the planned congestion pricing system risks too many unintended consequences,” Ms. Hochul said, adding: “I have ordered the MTA to suspend the program indefinitely.”
Moving environmentalists, transit advocates and angry economistswith some accusing the governor of abandoning a plan that was decades in the making for political reasons during a critical election year.
The decision, Ms. Hochul acknowledged, was not easy, but she said it was nonetheless crucial in light of the coronavirus pandemic’s lingering effects on working families and the New City economy. York.
THE congestion pricing planthe first of its kind in the country, was to start June 30th. Drivers using E-ZPass reportedly paid up to $15 to enter Manhattan south of 60th Street.
The governor said she was concerned that introducing a toll to enter the borough would “create another barrier to our economic recovery.”
“Let’s be real: A $15 charge may not seem like much to someone who can afford it, but it can break the budget of a hard-working middle-class household,” Ms. Hochul said.
In the days leading up to her announcement, the governor briefed the White House and the top House Democrat, Hakeem Jeffries, on her plans, according to two people familiar with the conversations.
They disputed reports that Mr Jeffries ordered Ms Hochul to delay the plan, saying he had remained neutral on the issue.
“As immediate implementation of congestion pricing is reconsidered, Leader Jeffries supports a temporary pause of limited duration to better understand the financial impact on working class New Yorkers,” said Andy Eichar, spokesperson for Mr. Jeffries.
Word from the governor last minute apprehensions began circulating in Albany on Tuesday evening and quickly sent shockwaves through the New York State Capitol on Wednesday morning, the penultimate day of the legislative session.
Few lawmakers could say they like congestion pricing and the prospect of taxing voters. But the proposal has been championed by economists and environmentalists as the solution not only to the financial problems of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the state agency that runs New York’s subways and buses, but also to the infamous traffic jam of the city.
The program was also challenged in court by eight separate lawsuits, with plaintiffs including New York Trucking Association And Governor Philip D. Murphy of New Jersey.
Mr. Murphy’s case in particular, which is being argued in federal district court in Newark, has been seen as the most serious challenge to congestion pricing. State officials are calling for a more comprehensive environmental review of the program.
But in New York, most Democrats reluctantly accepted the plan after decades of debate, hearings, study and planning — none more publicly than Ms. Hochul, who had defended it as a necessary step toward rebuilding New York’s economy.
Just two weeks ago, the governor told attendees at the World Economic Summit in Ireland that implementing a congestion charge was essential to “making cities more liveable”.
Many key players in New York politics, from Albany to New York, have expressed dismay at the reversal, which has thrown the transportation authority’s finances into uncertainty.
“I’m very upset that all of a sudden, out of the blue, this comes up,” State Sen. Liz Krueger, a Manhattan Democrat, said Wednesday, adding: “If we stop congestion pricing now, we We’ll never get there.” .”
Kate Slevin of the Regional Plan Association, a nonprofit urban research and advocacy group that has championed the toll program, called the decision “a complete betrayal of New Yorkers and our climate.”
Partnership for New York City President Kathryn Wylde said the governor’s decision was disappointing and she hoped the pause would be temporary.
Yet an undercurrent of support for Ms. Hochul’s decision was also evident among lawmakers, particularly those representing swing districts.
“Many see this as good news,” said James Skoufis, a Democrat who represents Orange County in the state Senate, adding that despite the plan’s approval five years earlier, opposition had grown within the Legislative Assembly. “Some of them are outspoken, some of them are more discreet, but they are widespread. »
Shortly after Ms. Hochul’s announcement, U.S. Rep. Pat Ryan, a Democrat facing a tough re-election race in New York’s northern suburbs, issued a statement taking partial credit for defeating the plan.
“Since day one, I have fought alongside countless Hudson Valley families against this unfair, misinformed and unacceptable congestion pricing plan,” Ryan said. “Today I am proud to say we have ended congestion pricing.”
Indeed, the plan has been largely unpopular in suburban areas of the Hudson Valley and Long Island, where Democrats are desperate to make gains this cycle.
A Siena poll in April found that 72 percent of New York City suburbs opposed congestion pricing. Statewide, the number is lower, but still a majority — including 54 percent Democrats.
Transit experts say such opposition is common among communities acclimating to tolling plans, but it doesn’t always last.
“We know from the experiences of other cities that have implemented congestion pricing that public support is at its lowest just before implementation,” said Nicholas Klein, assistant professor of urban planning. and regional at Cornell University. “That’s when the public, media and politicians panic. But we always find that the sky is not falling on our heads.”
In her speech, Ms. Hochul highlighted her commitment to public transit and her desire to ensure the transportation authority has the funding needed to complete long-overdue capital projects. But she said the city’s outlook has changed since the plan was approved in 2019.
“Employees were in the office five days a week, crime was at an all-time high and tourism was at an all-time high,” she said. “Circumstances have changed and we must respond to the facts on the ground. »
The decision has the awkward effect of aligning Ms. Hochul, a centrist Democrat who has at times served as a surrogate for President Biden, with the former president. Donald J. Trump, who ridiculed the planas well as his predecessor, Andrew M. Cuomo, who championed the concept as governor but now questions its timing.
To stop the plan’s implementation, Ms. Hochul only needs approval from the authority’s board of directors, which she controls. But without the $1 billion a year earmarked for the city’s buses and subways, the transit system could quickly slide into crisis.
Ms. Hochul could fill that gap, at least temporarily, with money from state reserves. But it would also seek a more sustainable source of revenue, possibly in the form of a tax on municipal businesses, which would require approval from the state Legislature.
The transportation agency has already invested heavily in infrastructure to implement the fare plan, including $507 million paid to a Nashville company.
In New York, Mayor Eric Adams approved Ms. Hochul’s decision. “I think if she considers looking at other ways to do it and how to do it properly, I’m all for it,” Mr. Adams said Wednesday at an unrelated news conference on Staten Island.
Mr. Adams, who is not a strong supporter of congestion pricing, said he was concerned that charging vehicles to enter Lower Manhattan would be an undue burden on “ordinary New Yorkers” and could affect the city’s economic recovery from the pandemic.
“We have to get this right,” the mayor said, noting that he had communicated with the governor in recent days. “This is a major change in our city and it needs to be done right.”
The report was provided by Nicolas Fandos, Jeffery C. Mays And Claire Fahy.
