NEW YORK (AP) — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul halted a plan to charge most motorists $15 to enter downtown Manhattan, leaving Wednesday just weeks before it was set to launch , the country’s first congestion pricing system was turned upside down.
The announcement was a stunning blow to a program that had been in the works for years and was intended to raise billions of dollars for New York’s beleaguered subways and commuter rails while reducing emissions and gridlock on the city’s streets.
In a pre-recorded video statement, Hochul, a Democrat, said she had come to the “difficult decision that implementing the planned congestion pricing system at this time poses too many unintended consequences.”
She cited New York’s fragile economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the financial burden the toll would place on state residents struggling with inflation, as reasons to “pause the program indefinitely.”
“A $15 levy may not seem like much to someone with the means, but it could destroy the budget of a hardworking or middle-class household,” Hochul said. “It puts pressure on the very people who keep this city running.”
The program would start on June 30, five years after it was first signed into law by former Governor Andrew Cuomo and more than a decade after it was first proposed. It had divided many in the region, pitting motorists against those who relied on the city’s public transport.
Until Wednesday, Hochul was one of the staunchest supporters of the plan. Two weeks ago he described the “transformative” impact it would have on the city’s climate and public transport services.
The abrupt reversal sent shockwaves through New York’s political circles while raising questions among transportation advocates about how the state would pay for much-needed transit upgrades that previously would have been funded by toll revenues.
Kate Slevin, executive vice president of the Regional Plan Association, a nonprofit advocacy group, called the move “a total betrayal of New Yorkers and our climate.”
As the plan neared its launch date, it faced increasing resistance from commuters and officials in the city’s suburbs. Hochul, who is leading Democrats’ efforts to retake New York’s congressional seats, has largely focused her political strategy on addressing the concerns of suburban voters.
U.S. Rep. Pat Ryan, a Democrat who represents a Hudson Valley district north of the city, praised his role in killing the plan, noting in a statement that he is “proud to say we passed the congestion charge discontinued.”
Other opponents of the plan — including unions representing teachers and police officers, truck drivers and several officials in New Jersey and Connecticut — also applauded the decision.
The plan called for people driving passenger cars into Manhattan below 60th Street – roughly the area south of Central Park – to pay at least $15, while larger vehicles would have to pay more. These payments would be in addition to the already high tolls for using bridges and tunnels to enter Manhattan.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which would have overseen the program, has largely completed the process of installing cameras, sensors, license plate readers and other equipment on city roads in anticipation of the plan’s launch. And they have signed contracts to pay more than $500 million to private suppliers for the design and operation of that technology.
Neither the MTA nor Hochul’s office responded to questions about whether any of that money would be recouped if the plan doesn’t go forward.
“The public should be asking why we spent hundreds of millions of dollars on equipment that is just going to sit there and what that tells us about the governor’s priorities,” said Rachael Fauss, a policy adviser at Reinvent Albany, a good government group.
New York Mayor Eric Adams, a former congestion pricing advocate who has expressed his own reservations about the plan in recent months, said he supported the governor’s decision to end the program.
“If she looks at what other ways we can do it and how we can do it the right way, I’m all for it,” he said. “This is a big change for our city and it has to be done the right way.”
In her comments Wednesday, Hochul said she remains committed to funding the state’s transportation initiatives, but did not specify where the money would come from. Any additional tax would require approval from the state Legislature, which will end its session this week.
Postponing the plan would require approval from the MTA board, which is controlled by Hochul. Some members of the board said they had not been informed by the governor prior to the announcement and expressed confusion about how key projects, including signal upgrades and rail improvements, would now be funded.
“How are we going to replace a third of the capital budget?” asked David Jones, a board member. “Will the governor make the billions that are being taken available available in another way? This could lead to a real financial disaster.”
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This story has been edited to correct the name of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
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Associated Press reporter Anthony Izaguirre in Albany, New York, contributed to this report.
