Hochul needs congestion pricing plan before Nov. 5, N.Y. Democrats say

Gov. Kathy Hochul needs to give an answer sooner than later about where she stands on the future of congestion pricing, some state lawmakers argue.

They say the urgency is even more top of mind, as Democrats are considering the possibility that former President Donald Trump, a congestion pricing opponent, could take his old job back in the White House.

“I’m the person who one year ago bailed out the MTA when it was going over the fiscal cliff. So you cannot question my commitment to the MTA today, but also to the future,” Hochul said during an interview on Aug. 1 at the Aspen Institute in Aspen, Colorado.

But some Democrats are questioning the governor. They want to know what her plan is.

“Time is of the essence because if the election doesn’t go our way, it’s going to be a lot harder to deal with the federal government come the new administration,” Brooklyn Democratic Assemblyman Robert Carroll, whose district covers Park Slope and Prospect Heights, said.

Since halting the program, Hochul has publicly said she’s reviewing options, such as price reduction or carving out the Broadway theater district.

“I’m not being facetious, but we need some more time to structure. The Legislature has to come back and find another source of funding,” Hochul explained at the Aspen Institute.

But more time isn’t an option, Bronx Democratic Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz says.

“If you can’t go up the stairs, you can’t go up the stairs. Among 23 stalled accessibility projects, according to a list provided by the MTA in June, is a new elevator at the end of the one and two train lines, at the Bronx’s Wakefield and 241st Street subway stop,” he said.

“I would feel more comfortable if we found the money sooner than the next budget, which is March 31, 2025. I think it’s possible that we can wait until the beginning of the year. I would feel better if we did it before the beginning of the year, though,” Dinowitz told NY1.

In Crown Heights, Brooklyn, multiple train lines converge at the Franklin Avenue-Medgar Evers College station.

“There is so much train traffic here because the trains are crossing, going south and going east and there’s so many delays,” Democratic state Sen. Zellnor Myrie, who represents the area and has been pushing for system upgrades, said.

It’s on the MTA’s to-do list, especially when it comes to train signals.

“The MTA has been studying this problem for close to four decades. The first study was in 1967,” he said.

According to Myrie, Hochul needs a plan before Nov. 5.

“There’s going to be more urgency. We already have a presumptive nominee on the Republican side that has been outwardly antagonistic to New York City. He’s already said that he hated congestion pricing,” he said.

Also in Brooklyn Monday, U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries was announcing the release of previously allocated federal funding for the G line at Classon Avenue.

“When the governor made the decision to pause, I indicated that I supported a temporary pause of limited duration,” he said. “While at the same period of time, redoubling our efforts at the federal level to make sure that we’re securing the resources to undergo the type of transformational projects such as the one that’s taking place here.”

The MTA said, without unpausing or green lighting a viable plan b, future projects face serious jeopardy — as does the MTA’s fiscal health.

“It’s also the repairs that a 100-plus year old system needs. We’ve got 476 subway stations with tracks and signals and cars that constantly need to be in a good state of repair. That’s what congestion pricing will help pay for,” Carroll said.

“If we don’t fund that capital budget, we’re gonna see the system go into a state of disrepair and it’s gonna be worse than 2016 or [20]17. We could be going back to the 1970s or 80s.”

Sources close to the legislative leaders told NY1, as of now, the Legislature has no plans to consider new program details at this time.