New York governor blocks downtown tolling plan at the last minute

License plate reading cameras for congestion pricing installed over Lexington Avenue on December 18, 2023 in New York City. Cars entering Manhattan south of 60th Street during peak periods were to be charged a toll of up to 15 dollars per day.

License plate reading cameras for congestion pricing installed over Lexington Avenue on December 18, 2023 in New York City. Cars entering Manhattan south of 60th Street during peak periods were to be charged a toll of up to 15 dollars per day. Liao Pan/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images

 

Connecting state and local government leaders

Citing economic hardships, Gov. Kathy Hochul put an indefinite hold on the congestion pricing plan for Lower Manhattan, upending a decade of planning to reduce traffic and air pollution.

Lower Manhattan’s notoriously crowded streets won’t be getting clearer in the next few weeks, after New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday put on indefinite hold a plan to charge drivers tolls for entering the most congested part of New York City.

Hochul, a Democrat, released a video statement saying the plan to charge car drivers $15 to enter the area south of Central Park “risks too many unintended consequences for New Yorkers at this time.”

“The goals of congestion pricing in terms of reducing traffic and pollution are important, but hard-working New Yorkers are getting hammered on costs, and they—and the economic vitality of our city—must be protected,” she said. “The idea behind congestion pricing is that it will encourage many current drivers to shift to public transit. But there is a third possibility that now poses a greater threat than it did at the program’s inception: Drivers can now choose to stay home altogether.”

The move instantly angered the many transportation, environment and urban planning advocates who championed congestion pricing through several mayoral and gubernatorial administrations.

“Delaying congestion pricing will only hurt millions of transit riders relying on improvements and hinder the economic success of our broader region,” said Kate Slevin, executive vice president of the Regional Plan Association. “This move is a total betrayal of New Yorkers and our climate. We call on the governor to stay firm to her commitment to move congestion pricing forward and not cave to politics.”

New York would have been the first city in the U.S. with congestion pricing, following similar efforts abroad in London, Singapore and Stockholm.

The governor’s decision comes just weeks before the tolls were scheduled to be put in place on June 30. License plate-reading cameras have already been installed on light posts and on gantries around the perimeter of the toll zone. 

The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs the region’s buses and subways, planned to raise $15 billion from the tolls to pay for new trains, new signals and other modernization projects. Some of the money was also designated for the Metro North and the Long Island Rail Road—the two commuter rail systems MTA operates.

The governor said she would work to replace the revenue the transit system would lose from the indefinite pause of the tolling plan. 

Hochul had previously supported the congestion pricing plan, which had been in the works for more than a decade. But officials from New Jersey and the outer boroughs rallied against it. Opponents filed half a dozen lawsuits to halt the tolling plan. 

Politically, Hochul is also under pressure to help Democrats win congressional seats in New York this November, which could flip control of the U.S. House into their favor. 

Both Politico and Fox News reported that U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a Brooklyn Democrat, pressed Hochul to delay the tolling scheme. But Jeffries’ spokesperson Andy Eichar disputed that Wednesday. “For years, Leader Hakeem Jeffries has maintained neutrality with respect to the congestion pricing policy debate. Nothing has changed in that regard,” Eichar said in a statement.

“To the extent immediate implementation of congestion pricing is being reconsidered, Leader Jeffries supports a temporary pause of limited duration to better understand the financial impact on working class New Yorkers who have confronted a challenging inflationary environment as a result of the pandemic. We will continue to find ways to lower costs for everyday Americans and strengthen mass transportation in New York State,” he added.

But Hochul’s decision did win her praise from fellow Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey, a Democrat who tried to block New York from implementing congestion pricing.

“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,” he said in a statement. “We fully embrace the notion that the success of Manhattan is inextricably linked to the prosperity of the entire Tri-State Area.”

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.