The chaos on the subway prompted Cuomo to push for the repeal of New York’s new ride tax
As New York’s “congestion pricing” city tolling plan goes into effect on Sunday, one of its chief advocates is questioning whether the time is right for a policy meant to funnel people into an increasingly dangerous mass transit system.
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 enter lower Manhattan from Brooklyn and New Jersey – but questioned whether it was best to implement it now.
“Governor Cuomo believes that congestion pricing is ultimately the right policy, which he fought for and was able to pass after more than a decade of failed attempts,” longtime spokesman Rich Azzopardi told Fox News Digital on Friday.
Azzopardi said Cuomo’s original plan, which was agreed to by then-Mayor Bill de Blasio, was based on a “safe and reliable subway system” and a thriving urban core. Previous Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed a similar plan in 2007, but it failed in Albany.
“[G]despite the apparent lack of confidence the public currently has in the subway system—combined with New York’s tenuous post-Covid state, [Cuomo] called for a data-driven study of the impact of congestion pricing to determine the timing of such a major policy change and ensure New York does not create additional barriers to its return.”
Cuomo previously wrote ua March op-ed that the success of congestion pricing depends on confidence in the MTA and mass transit, which he noted has statistically still not recovered from COVID levels.
He noted that congestion pricing should “incentivize” subway use — but that’s hard to do when people underground are being brutally attacked — and noted that his father, Gov. Mario Cuomo, was the first to increase police presence after the “bad old days.”
At the time of a previous Post column, Cuomo quoted a 24-year MTA conductor who vowed never to return underground after he was slashed in the neck and needed 34 stitches while operating an A train in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.
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MTA President Janno Lieber and Governor Hochul (Getty)
More recently, an Ocean County, NJ, woman was burned alive at Coney Island, and since Christmas there have been several near-fatal cases of people being pushed randomly in front of trains, from Morningside Heights to TriBeCa.
“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 politics, it could do more harm than good to New York’s recovery,” Cuomo said. spokesman. said friday.
But Cuomo’s former deputy, Governor Kathy Hochul, appeared in full steam ahead of the policy, which aims to encourage commuters and residents to consider mass transit to get to work or play in Midtown.
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In a recent statement praising her current plan, Hochula’s office said reducing the congestion toll from the original $15 will save drivers $1,500 a year, and 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 transportation for millions of New Yorkers,” Hochul said.
MTA Chairman Janno Lieber, who oversees the state’s subway, bus and rail networks, said Hochul is “going strong” for people who want cleaner air, safer streets and less congestion.
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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 to Flushing, Queens, and the L train from Union Square to Canarsie.
However, Cuomo’s camp claims he was the one who envisioned and oversaw upgrades to New York’s transit network without additional tolls in effect — and ripped Hochul and Lieber for claims he went cold turkey.
When it is The New York Post asked Hochul for comment on Cuomo’s suggestion that she “put the brakes” on the congestion charge, the governor referred the comment to Lieber’s spokesman, who blasted Cuomo for the “spin.”
“What would really hurt New York’s continued recovery is denying the subways a desperately needed source of funding after decades of underinvestment,” said the MTA’s Aaron Donovan.
“The $15 fee was approved by the MTA under Hochul’s watch, 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, which they didn’t have when he first unveiled the plan in 2019 — and that if he were a commuter, he would likely balk at the idea of additional costs at a time of “high crime and homelessness “.
That’s what Cuomo’s camp said, too Hochul loves to take credit for the achievements of his three-term administration that heralded the new tolls.
“The difference is what Governor Cuomo built [new Amtrak/MetroNorth] Moynihan Train Hall and the Second Avenue Subway [extension to East Harlem]as well as fixed the L train and did the hard work to get it [Grand Central’s] Eastside access and LIRR third track completed. All Hochul wanted to do was cut the ribbons,” Azzopardi said.
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Cuomo’s calls for a pause have been joined by several New York Republicans, but the former governor and potential 2025 mayoral candidate remains supportive of congestion pricing, while the GOP wants to see it phased out entirely.
Travelers from New Jersey still have to pay Port Authority tolls to cross the Hudson River, and travelers from outlying boroughs do the same across the East River – albeit with a small credit for their “congestion” fee.
Drivers who stay on the FDR Drive or Joe DiMaggio West Side Highway will not be tolled unless they turn onto surface streets.
