For the Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-NevenNews of Governor Kathy Hochul’s stunning decision to pause Manhattan’s long-awaited congestion pricing plan came in a phone call from the governor last Tuesday in the final days of the 2024 legislative session.
Stewart-Cousins, D-Yonkers, had heard rumors of Hochul’s growing concerns about congestion pricing not long after the governor touted the program in a speech to the Global Economic Summit in Ireland on May 20.
Then the call came, less than a month before the program was set to begin.
“She called me the day before to say they were going to put a break on it,” Stewart-Cousins said in an interview. “We knew there were concerns about the law that has been on the books since 2019. And we heard about it in 2008 when Mayor Bloomberg brought it to our attention.”
Among the plan’s most vocal opponents were unions representing public employees, such as police, firefighters and school staff, who live in the suburbs but commute to Manhattan daily by car.
Stewart-Cousins still wants less traffic congestion, cleaner air and reliable financing
Stewart-Cousins was among the Lower Hudson Valley lawmakers who have since responded to Hochul’s surprise in June. The Senate leader remains committed to preserving what she called the three pillars of congestion pricing: less congestion in Manhattan’s central business district, cleaner city air and a reliable funding stream to pay debt service for the Metropolitan Transportation capital program Authority to pay.
Hochul announced the pause on June 5, eliminating the $15 toll that commuters and fans of New York’s cultural life who enjoy driving south of 60th Street in Manhattan would have had to pay starting June 30.
Hochul’s suggestion that the Legislature consider increased payroll taxes to close the gap in the MTA’s capital program went nowhere in the final days of the legislative session. Don’t expect the Senate to come back to Albany anytime soon.
Stewart-Cousins wants to ensure that all three elements of the congestion pricing plan survive. Finding consensus may take some time.
“I and my members are always willing to come, but not just to deal with one of the three issues,” she said. “How are we going to reduce the nuisance? How are we going to mitigate the impact on the environment and ensure that we have a sustainable source of revenue for the MTA?”
Hochul to legislature: use your ‘imagination’
Hochul insists she is interested in combating traffic congestion in the city, and is concerned about traffic in Queens and Brooklyn, as well as in Manhattan. She said her government’s support for electric cars would help address concerns about car emissions.
On Monday, Hochul said hitting motorists with a $15 toll would hurt the city’s economy. She encouraged state leaders to use their “imagination” to find $1 billion for the MTA’s capital program.
“I have committed that these projects will continue,” Hochul said. “But to assume that the only source of funding had to be congestion charges shows a lack of imagination in understanding other options to finance these projects.”
More: What is MTA’s Plan B to fund upgrades now that congestion pricing has ended? Here’s what we know
Support for a pause is moving across the political aisle
The response varied by province, but not necessarily by party. Among the political leaders applauding Hochul’s decision are Assemblyman Ken Zebrowski, D-Clarkstown, Assemblyman Christopher Eachus, R-New Windsor, and U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler, R-Pearl River. All three represent parts of Rockland County, which has limited public transit options into Manhattan, while Lawler’s district also includes all of Westchester north of White Plains.
Zebrowski was among Hudson Valley Democrats, including Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano, who provided quotes to Hochul’s press shop to include on its website in favor of her action.
“Governor Hochul is right to suspend congestion pricing indefinitely,” Zebrowski said. “This is the wrong proposal at the wrong time for too many New Yorkers.”
Lawler, who has made affordability an issue in his re-election bid, wants to move beyond Hochul’s break. He urged the state Legislature to repeal the 2019 law that authorized the program. To make up the annual shortfall in MTA debt payments, Lawler proposed ending funding for migrant programs in New York, ending the emerging public financing of state political campaigns and combating “rate gouging” in the subway.
“Congestion pricing was a cash grab from suburban communities to fund the worst run authority in America,” Lawler said. “Metro-North commuters should not be penalized by changes to the capital program due to its cancellation.”
Lawler’s opponent in November, former Rep. Mondaire Jones, D-Sleepy Hollow, also split with some Hudson Valley Democrats to support Hochul.
“From day one, I have been clear that if New York wants to implement congestion pricing, there must be exemptions for communities that lack adequate public transportation infrastructure, like my hometown of Rockland, which doesn’t even have a one-seat train ride into the city is possible. ” said Jones. “I know this struggle personally as someone who has traveled from Rockland to Manhattan.”
Congestion pricing advocates want Hochul’s plan B
Even Hochul supporters were floored by Hochul’s last-minute reversal, which came as technicians were putting the finishing touches on a $500 million camera system south of 60e Street to charge motorists’ EZ Pass accounts or send them a bill.
“Whether you support or oppose the program, the way she handled it was really bad,” said Sen. Pete Harckham, D-Lewisboro, chairman of the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee. “When you do something like this, you give people a heads up and you have a plan. You don’t do it and then ask us to pass on a payroll tax on your way out the door.”
Harckham noted that some neighborhoods in Manhattan have high asthma rates, caused in part by the city’s dirty air. The capital plan also provides $1.5 billion for improvements to Metro-North, the commuter rail system serving Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess counties.
“The ball is in her court,” Harckham said. “How do we get the money? What are we going to do about emissions and the consequences for public health?”
More: Hochul wants to postpone the congestion charge days before the start: what is behind the reversal?
Assemblyman Steve Otis, D-Rye, said he was concerned about the fate of the capital plan, while Assemblywoman Dana Levenberg, D-Ossining, continues to support congestion pricing.
Although concerned about the $15 toll for any trip south of 60e Street Assemblyman Chris Burdick, D-Bedford, said the capital program funding was essential to modernize the region’s public transportation network.
“We have an obligation to make up for lost revenue,” Burdick said. “There is a commitment from the legislature and the governor to do that. If there is no agreement, that is how it should be done.”
Assemblywoman MaryJane Shimsky, D-Hastings-on-Hudson, said she is waiting for Hochul’s proposal.
“This is a policy that was established long before my election to the General Assembly,” Shimsky said. “So if the governor has alternative plans for funding the MTA’s much-needed improvements, I look forward to seeing them.”
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David McKay Wilson writes about tax issues and government responsibility. Follow him on Twitter @davidmckay415 or email him at dwilson3@lohud.com.
This article originally appeared in Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Congestion pricing in New York: Stewart-Cousins awaits review of Hochul plan
