Hochul “Unpauses” Congestion Pricing; Seeks to Start Jan. 5 with $9 Toll

It is a race against time as Governor Kathy Hochul unpaused congestion pricing tolls below 60th St in Manhattan, setting a $9 toll and tentative start date of Jan. 5.

The original toll was 40 percent at higher at a $15 peak price for cars, but she paused that in early June only weeks before it set to take effect on June 30.

The new toll, set to take effect Jan. 5, is only 15 days before president-elect Donald Trump--who has already called it the “most regressive tax known to womankind,”--takes office.

“I have to do what is best for all New Yorkers,” said Hochul at a press conference in midtown Manhattan on Nov. 14.

“We’re still getting the $15 billion to fund the MTA and drivers are paying $6 less,” said Hochul. “This lower toll will still allow us to accomplish all—and I mean all—of the goals of congestion pricing: new modern signals, the long-awaited Second Avenue subway, new electric buses, elevators. And this will generate major investments for our suburban commuters as well.”

Hochul said she has spoken with Trump since he won the election on Nov. 5, but he has not dropped his oppossition to the toll. “I have great respect for the Governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, and look forward to working with her to Make New York and America Great Again,” said Trump. “But I strongly disagree with the decision on the congestion tax.” But this time he did not threaten a specific action.

Supporters of the toll have said they thought it would be more difficult for Trump to rescind the toll once it began began because all the federal approvals will have already been put in place by the outgoing Biden Administration.

The United Federation of Teachers were among the groups that oppossed the tolls. “This toll is on the backs of whoever voted for it,” said Michael Mulgrew, the head of the UFT. “It’s a great day for the rich people of Manhattan and a bad day for everyone else.”

But most of the lower Manhattan state lawmakers showed support by turning out at the press conference, including Assembly members Tony Simone and Linda Rosenthal and NYS Senator Brad-Hoylman-Sigal.

Janno Lieber, the MTA chairman said that the agency would immediately resume projects including the Second Ave. Subway even as the bonds to secure the funds—essentially loans that are guaranteed by the state—have to be worked out with bond underwriters. “We now have a source [of funds],” he said.

Hochul said the toll is estimated to raise $600 million, down from the original estimate of $900 million to $1 billion at the higher price point.

Kathryn Garcia, who ran second to Eric Adams in the New York Democratic mayoral primary in 2021 and is now director of operations for Hochul, said: “We have essentially given the MTA a $15 billion credit card.”

Hochul on June 5 had originally paused the $15 toll that was supposed to go in effect on June 30. “It was too high,” she said. But some speculated she was simply trying to sidestep it as an issue in the November election because the toll was extremely unpopular with lawmakers outside of the city, on Long Island, and the counties north of the city.

“No surprise at all that Governor Kathy Hochul was going to bring back Congestion Taxing after the elections were over so she could protect her legislators upstate,” wrote Chelsea resident Dominick Romeo, on the Next Door blog on Nov. 14.

Hochul insisted cost of living concerns drove her move to slash the toll by 40 percent. She said it is not true that all drivers to the city were wealthy and the $15 toll “would really have hurt a working mom or working dad trying to make ends meet.”

“I’m happy it is resuming,” said Assembly member Linda Rosenthal, who represents the 67th district, which includes residents both above and below 60th St. in Chelsea and Hell’s Kitchen. “I’m a big supporter of congestion pricing.”

Brad Hoylman-Sigal, a NYS Senator on the west Side of Manhattan also said he was supportive of enacting it now at the reduced price.

And once it was paused in June, he conceded, “Nobody had a plan how to fill the $15 billion hole” in the MTA Capitol improvement budget.

He did tell Straus News at the press conference, “I don’t think residents who live in the congestion pricing zone and own a car should be penalized.” But as of now, they have to pay the same price to re-enter the zone where they live as everyone else.

In the London plan that has been in effect for years and served as something of a model for NYC, drivers who live within the zone were given a 90 percent discount from the full fare. But they are getting no such breaks in the current NYC plan.

But among the benefits will be fewer cars on the streets of Manhattan which means faster response times for police, firefighters and EMTs, Hoylman-Sigal said.

There is a reduced fare for drivers who come in before 6 a.m. and after 9 p.m. In the original plan, it was going to be $3.75. That’s been rolled back to $2.25.

Assembly member Tony Simone who represents Chelsea was also supportive of congestive pricing. He said it is still possible for some exemptions to be added during a 30 day public comment period, although there was no mention of that happening at the roll out announcement.

There were some reports that Hochul would like to gradually increase the $9 maximum toll over time. But her aid Garcia said at the press conference that Hochul intends to keep the $9 toll “for at least three years.”

Aside from the car tolls, other tolls are also being cut.

Trucks will pay between $14.40 and $21.60 during peak hours depending on size. Taxi passengers will see an extra per-ride surcharge of 75 cents. Uber or Lyft passengers will be charged an extra $1.50 per trip.

The discount for passenger cars entering into the zone via the Lincoln, Holland, Hugh L. Carey and Queens-Midtown tunnels during peak hours would drop under the new plan to $3, from the original $5 discount when the fare was $15. That means, after emerging from the tunnels, they’ll now pay an extra $6 to enter the zone.

Meanwhile, car owners who earn less than $50,000 per year will receive a 50 percent discount on every toll after making ten trips in a month.

Hochul acknowledged that there are still nine lawsuits pending that are trying to block the toll, including from New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy.

At the orignal $15 toll, it was projected traffic was going to be cut by 15 percent to 17 percent. At $9, it would reduce traffic by 13 percent from drivers who did not want to pay to extra fee to travel to the city.

Lieber also pointed out that 90 percent of the workers in office buildings in the congestion pricing zone get there via mass transit, with a small number walking or biking “but they are not drivers,” he noted.

Mayor Eric Adams, who had earlier signaled support for Hochul’s new plan, dispatched deputy mayor Meera Joshi to sit on the dais with Lieber and Hochul as the plan was unveiled.