New York lawmakers put Hochul in a jam with no congestion pricing alternative

Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) is facing the repercussions of her reversal on congestion pricing as Albany lawmakers scrap plans to fund the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 

State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins announced the decision on Friday, saying legislators would end their session without a deal. Her comments are a response to Hochul’s abrupt withdrawal from a plan designed to raise funds to improve the city’s subway and bus systems by charging drivers entering Manhattan’s core business district. 

Hochul originally agreed to the tolling proposal but angered lawmakers when she changed her mind at the eleventh hour and after the MTA had purchased $500 million of equipment for tolling. 

Her actions left Stewart-Cousins and Albany lawmakers scrambling to work out an alternative to replace the $1 billion annual funding Hochul’s scrapped transit plan would have raised. After frustrated lawmakers ditched attempts to bail the governor out on Friday, state Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said there is still time to vote on a funding replacement before January. 

In comments two weeks ago, Hochul praised the program as vital to “making cities more livable.” On Wednesday, Hochul had a change of heart. Amid fears the plan’s unpopularity would hurt Democrats in competitive House elections, she caved to pressure from New Yorkers upset at the plan’s high price tag.

“My team worked in the final hours to find a way to implement this … but hard-working New Yorkers are getting hammered on costs,” Hochul said. 

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The congestion pricing plan was unpopular with most New Yorkers, including former President Donald Trump. “Instituting congestion pricing,” Trump said, “is a big incentive not to come [to New York City].”

The toll would have charged passenger and small commercial vehicles $15 during peak hours and $24 to $36 for trucks and buses.