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As New York’s “congestion pricing” toll plan goes into effect Sunday, one of its leading advocates is questioning whether the time is right for a policy aimed at driving people onto a public transit system every time more dangerous
Through a spokesperson, ex Governor Andrew Cuomo confirmed that he still supports the system that now charges drivers $9 to cross under Central Park or into Lower Manhattan from Brooklyn and New Jersey, but questioned whether it is better to implement it now.
“Governor Cuomo believes that congestion pricing is ultimately the right policy, which is why he fought and got it passed after more than a decade of failed attempts,” he told Fox News Digital on Friday longtime spokesman Rich Azzopardi.
Azzopardi said Cuomo’s original plan, which found agreement with then-Mayor Bill de Blasio, was based on a “safe and reliable subway system” and a thriving downtown core. Mayor Michael Bloomberg had proposed a similar plan in 2007, but he died in Albany.
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“(G)iven the obvious lack of confidence the public currently has in the subway system, combined with the tenuous state of New York City post-COVID, (Cuomo) called for a data-driven study on the impact of congestion pricing to inform the timing of such an important policy change and to ensure that New York does not create additional obstacles to its return.”
Cuomo previously wrote in a March edition that the success of congestion pricing depends on confidence in the MTA and mass transit, which he also noted has statistically not yet recovered from COVID levels.
He pointed out how congestion pricing is meant to “incentivize” subway use, but that’s hard to do when people are brutally attacked underground, noting that it was his father, Gov. Mario Cuomo, the first to strengthen the police presence after the “bad old days”.
At the time of a previous Post column, Cuomo quoted a driver with 24 years of service at the MTA who vowed never to go underground again after being slashed in the neck and requiring 34 stitches while operating an A train at Bedford-Stuyvesant. Brooklyn.
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MTA President Janno Lieber and Governor Hochul (Getty)
Most recently, an Ocean County, NJ woman was burned alive at Coney Island, and there have been several near-fatal cases of people being randomly shoved in front of trains, from Morningside Heights to TriBeCa , since Christmas.
“It’s undeniable that New York is in a dramatically different place today than it was in 2019, and without a study that predicts its consequences based on facts, not policy, it could do more harm than good to the city’s recovery. New York City,” Cuomo’s spokesman said. said Friday.
But Cuomo’s former deputy, Governor Kathy Hochul, appeared in full steam at the enactment of the policy, which aims to encourage commuters and residents to consider public transportation to work or play in Midtown.
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In a recent statement praising its current plan, Hochul’s office said reducing the congestion toll from its original $15 will save drivers $1,500 a year and that commuters will see “new and improved subway services.”
“By implementing congestion pricing and fully supporting the MTA’s capital plan, we will unclog our streets, reduce pollution and provide better public transit for millions of New Yorkers,” Hochul said.
MTA President Janno Lieber, who oversees the state’s subway, bus and rail network, said Hochul is “stepping up” for people who want cleaner air, safer streets and less congestion.
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The FDR Drive on the East Side of Manhattan; one of the few toll-free roads. (Getty)
He also noted that upgrades have already been made to the 7 subway from Times Square in Flushing, Queens, and the L train from Union Square in Canarsie.
However, Cuomo’s camp maintains that he was the one who envisioned and oversaw upgrades to New York’s transit network without the added tolls in effect, and ripped Hochul and Lieber for claiming he had put his feet up cold
When the The New York Post asked Hochul to comment on Cuomo suggesting he was “hitting the brakes” on congestion pricing, the governor directed the comment to a spokesman for Lieber, who criticized Cuomo for “flip-flopping.”
“What would really hurt New York’s continued recovery is starving the subways of a source of funding that is desperately needed after decades of underinvestment,” said the MTA’s Aaron Donovan.
“The $15 fare was approved by the MTA under Hochul’s control, but please go away,” Azzopardi told Fox News Digital. “New Yorkers are not stupid.”
Cuomo previously told WNYW that people have the option to work from home, something they didn’t have when he first pushed the plan in 2019, and that if he were a commuter, he would likely balk at the idea of additional costs at the same time of “high crime and homelessness”.
Cuomo’s camp said so, too Hochul likes it to take credit for the successes of his three-term administration that foreshadowed the new tolls.
“The difference here is that Governor Cuomo built the (new Amtrak/MetroNorth) Moynihan Train Hall and the Second Avenue subway (extension to East Harlem), as well as fixing the L train and doing the hard work to get east (of Grand Central). Side Access and the LIRR Third-Track done All Hochul wanted to do was cut the ribbons,” Azzopardi said.
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Cuomo’s calls for a pause were joined by several New York Republicans, but the former governor and potential 2025 mayoral candidate continues to support congestion pricing, while the GOP wants it phased out completely
Travelers from New Jersey must still pay Port Authority tolls to cross the Hudson River, and out-of-district travelers across the East River, albeit with a slight credit toward their “congestion” fee.
Drivers who remain on the FDR Drive or Joe DiMaggio West Side Highway will not be charged unless turning onto surface streets.
