Watch Gov. Hochul debate herself when it comes to implementing congestion pricing

In December, Gov. Kathy Hochul joined public transit advocates and environmentalists at a rally in Union Square in support of congestion pricing, a toll on drivers in the busiest parts of Manhattan that she said could help “save this city.”

“From time to time, leaders are called upon to envision a better future, be bold in the implementation and executive, and be undaunted by the opposition,” the governor said to an adoring crowd as she took the rostrum. “That's how you secure progress. That's what today is all about.”

Six months later, Hochul abruptly reversed course, espousing a similar rationale on leadership to indefinitely pause the highly anticipated toll just weeks before it was supposed to take effect.

“Leaders have to be willing to do what's right regardless of the political headwinds and stand up for the voices that are not being heard,” she said on Friday. “So yes, I put congestion pricing on pause because, when it comes down to it, I'll always stand on the side of hardworking New Yorkers.”

Hochul’s about-face on tolling drivers below 60th Street as a key way to fund New York City transit upgrades left supporters of congestion pricing feeling betrayed by a governor who — until last week — had been their biggest backer.

The governor’s decision also left the MTA scrambling to figure out how to deal with a new $15 billion hole in the agency’s plan to revamp stations, modernize equipment and move ahead with big-swing items like the Second Avenue subway expansion and the Interborough Express, a Queens-to-Brooklyn line that is one of Hochul’s pet projects.

Here’s a look at Hochul’s congestion pricing flip-flop in her own words:

A dramatic reversal

At the Union Square rally in December, Hochul asked attendees a series of questions. Each one received an enthusiastic "yes" from the crowd.

“Anybody sick and tired of gridlock in New York City?” she asked. “Anybody think we deserve better transit, especially those who live and work here? Anyone think that people with disabilities deserve to have more accessibility when they travel through this city? Anybody want cleaner air for our kids and for future generations?”

She continued: “Well then you love congestion pricing, right?”

The governor went on to tout the toll as a necessary step to reduce traffic congestion in Manhattan. It was a potentially life-saving measure, she said, since ambulances and emergency personnel often have a hard time navigating Midtown and Lower Manhattan traffic.

At the rally, Hochul referred to Betsy Plum, executive director of the Riders Alliance, as “my hero” for the organization’s years of work advocating for congestion pricing. In introducing Hochul, Plum hailed the governor as an “elected champion who has not backed down from the promise of less traffic, cleaner air and better transit.”

But when Hochul announced her reversal on June 5, she acknowledged that congestion pricing's goals were to reduce traffic and provide a funding stream for the MTA. She pointed to economic concerns that she says swayed her to pump the brakes.

“It was also enacted in a pre-pandemic period where workers were in the office five days a week, crime was at record lows and tourism was at record highs,” she said in a pre-recorded video announcement last week. “Circumstances have changed and we must respond to the facts on the ground, not from the rhetoric from five years ago.”

The Riders Alliance no longer has a rosy view of Hochul. Since her reversal, the nonprofit organization led fiery protests of her decision in the five boroughs and in the halls of the Capitol in Albany.

Funding the MTA

Just after the federal government gave New York’s congestion-pricing program a tentative green light a year ago, Hochul spoke glowingly of the toll, calling it a “viable funding source” that would help the MTA “sustain the level of service and even enhance it.”

She spoke of the need for $1 billion in annual toll revenue to help the MTA borrow $15 billion to invest in new subway cars, new commuter rail cars and electrifying the bus fleet.

“For commuters who've not yet discovered the ease and the benefit of using trains that may be right there for them, but they're just so conditioned to driving the cars — we're going to help them see the light,” she said on June 27, 2023.

In February, Hochul was more explicit about the need for the congestion pricing revenue.

“We want to make sure that we can properly fund our five-year capital plan,” she said at an event touting the subway’s first “open gangway” train. “And that hinges on the continuation of the plan to go forward with congestion pricing without further delays."

Last week, she had a new take. On Friday, she said “now is not the time” to ask New Yorkers “who are still feeling the cost of inflation in their pocketbooks” to pay for things like the Second Avenue subway expansion and Interborough Express with a congestion toll.

On Monday, she suggested that those who say congestion pricing revenue is a necessity need to be more imaginative. Last week, she tried to convince lawmakers to hike a payroll tax on certain New York City businesses to make up the revenue, but they balked.

“To assume that the only funding source had to be congestion pricing shows a lack of imagination about understanding other opportunities to fund these projects,” Hochul said earlier this week. “I am committed to these projects.”

New Jersey drivers

When the issue of New Jersey commuters having to pay the congestion pricing toll came up three months ago, Hochul had a simple message: Most of them take the train anyway.

“We know that 80% of people coming in from New Jersey to work in the [Manhattan] central business district, they take public transit,” the governor said during a March 13 showdown with congestion pricing critic Whoopi Goldberg on ABC’s "The View." “This money is going to be reinvested into making sure that our trains are better.”

Two days after Hochul’s sudden turn last week, she cited concerns over discouraging New Jersey residents from frequenting New Jersey businesses as a reason for her reversal. She pointed to a hardware store owner she saw praising her decision on the local news.

“The owner who says it's going to increase the cost of deliveries, I'm going to have to pass it on to my constituents,” Hochul said Friday. “And my New Jersey customers are already saying they're not going to come. That's real stress and real pain and that is all that matters to me.”