Due To Elections, NY Governor Hochul Nixes Congestion Pricing

By FrumNews.com 

On Wednesday morning, Fearful of a red wave, Governor Kathy Hochul made a controversial announcement, delaying the start of the gotcha congestion pricing in New York City, which would force and tax drivers to pay to get into certain parts of Manhattan.

As previously reported by FrumNews.com, New York City commuters enter lower and midtown Manhattan (below 60th Street). The toll is based on similar congestion pricing schemes in major liberal cities like London, Stockholm and Singapore. The plan was to reduce congestion on Manhattan’s busy streets by tolling drivers who enter the Central Business District.

In March, the MTA’s board of directors set the toll rate for congestion pricing at $15. Cars and small commercial vehicles will be paying with E-ZPass and will be charged $15 during the day and $3.75 at night. Drivers will be charged no more than once a day. Larger vehicles will pay more, up to $36 during the day and up to $9 at night. Taxis and black car passengers will pay a $1.25 toll within or through the zone. Uber, Lyft or Revel passengers will pay $2.50. Exemptions can be found here.

Congestion pricing was set to take effect on June 30th and has now been postponed indefinitely by the Governor.

The Governor stated, “Circumstances have changed, and we must respond to the facts on the ground—not to the rhetoric from five years ago.” She further explained that the new congestion pricing plan posed too many unintended consequences at this time, raising concerns about its potential impact on NYC’s economy.

“So, after careful consideration, I have come to the difficult decision that implementing the planned congestion pricing system risks too many unintended consequences for New Yorkers at this time.” She added. The Governor did not give a new date to go into effect.

The governor addressed the ongoing lawsuits against congestion pricing, “given the lawsuits and many other attacks on this process, we have already had to prepare for the possibility that congestion pricing could be delayed.”

Behind the scenes, political aides said off the record that pressure from fellow Democrats ahead of November due to strong fear that incumbent Democrat members will lose to their Republican opponents in the upcoming Senate, Congress and Assembly elections, that congestion pricing would hurt their chances of winning.

Make no mistake, the day after the elections, Governor Hochul will reimplement congestion pricing—and she can as the infrastructure of license plate readers are already installed. They will keep on taxing New Yorkers more every day.

Many Democrats, both moderate and some progressives, responded and congratulated the Governor.  The question remains if Democrat elected officials took en-mass to social media thanking the Governor for postponing congestion pricing, who is asking for it? The AOC’s and socialist politicians in New York?

Whether the congestion pricing will come back on track before or after the election is unclear. But the governor clearly flip-flopped on this issue. In December Hochul said that congestion pricing would mean “cleaner air, better transit and less gridlock on New York City’s streets.”

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, who fought the MTA in court over the plan, celebrated the news, “I want to thank Governor Hochul for pausing the implementation of congestion pricing in Manhattan’s Central Business District.”

“Although we have had a difference of opinion with our colleagues in New York on congestion pricing implementation, we have always had a shared vision for growing our regional economy, investing in infrastructure, protecting our environment, and creating good-paying jobs on both sides of the Hudson River.” The Governor continued, “We fully embrace the notion that the success of Manhattan is inextricably linked to the prosperity of the entire Tri-State Area.”

Many FrumNews.com readers pointed out in the past that if New York City actually wants its residents to use public transit, all it has to do is enable law and order in the MTA transit system.

As one Williamsburg reader told FrumNews.com, “The far-left progressives in this City are handcuffing the police department by allowing the emotionality disturbed and violent individuals to roam the NYC Subway system en-mass freely. This means that the MTA, Mayor, Governor, State Legislators, Council members and elected officials are not serious. They care more about obsessively taxing everyday New Yorkers because if they would clean up the subway system, charge and hold the criminals responsible, there would be more riders using public transportation on their own.”

“Most New Yorkers don’t want to drive into Manhattan, but the subway is a cesspool of crime; those that can bypass the subway avoid it for this very reason.” He added.