Andrew Cuomo wants NY to put brakes on $15 congestion toll he once championed
Ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who muscled the state’s controversial congestion pricing law through the legislature in 2019, is now urging officials to put the brakes on the program.
Cuomo recently said the plan — which calls for a $15 toll to enter Midtown Manhattan’s business district — just gives people one more reason to stay away from a post-pandemic Big Apple, which is still grappling with too much crime and the migrant and homeless crises.
“There’s been a change in circumstance,” Cuomo said, referring to when he pushed through the legislation and New York City’s post-COVID world.
“There’s now a choice C: stay home,” he told Fox 5’s “Good Day New York” last week.
“‘The cost has gotten too high. It’s another impediment. I don’t want to pay a higher toll to drive into New York City that has high crime, that has homelessness. I’ll stay home,'” he said, speaking of drivers.
“That didn’t exist six years ago,” Cuomo said of the resistance, fueled at least partly by remote work. “Nobody got to stay home. There were no Zoom meetings.”
Cuomo said a new study should be done before the plan is implemented to find out whether the $15 toll will discourage people from visiting the city.
“I would like to see an analysis that shows today’s present reality,” he said. “If you raise the tolls, would you cause more people to stay home, which would in fact raise less money?”
His new stance is a far cry from his rabid advocacy for congestion pricing in 2019, when he pushed through the legislation despite stiff opposition from some lawmakers. The planned $15 toll to enter Midtown would not have happened without his prior support.
“Congestion pricing is the only logical and realistic option to fund the [Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s] capital needs,” Cuomo said at the time.
He claimed that most motorists wouldn’t be affected because only “very rich people” can afford to drive into Manhattan.
“Outer-borough residents are not driving their cars into Manhattan. That’s not how they come in,” Cuomo said then. “I’m a Queens boy. Only very rich people can drive into Manhattan. You have to pay the toll. You have to pay parking. . . . Ot probably comes close to $100 a day.”
He added that “it’s a luxury” to drive into Midtown.
Cuomo’s flip-flop had some mass-transit advocates fuming. The toll was designed to help pay for improvement to New York City’s aging subway system, as well as cut down on driving, among other things.
“The former governor could have been remembered for setting us on the path to fix the subway. Now that he’s out of power, this Grinch doesn’t want anyone to have a modern, reliable, accessible public transit network,” said Daniel Pearstein of the Riders Alliance. “No wonder riders spent years stuck on delayed trains, popularizing the notorious hashtag #CuomosMTA.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul, Cuomo’s successor who served as his lieutenant governor, strongly backs the congestion pricing toll that will be implemented as early as next spring by the MTA she controls.
Hochul left it to the MTA to respond to The Post about Cuomo’s comments. The transit agency Sunday blasted Cuomo for flip-flopping.
“Congestion pricing worked in Singapore, Stockholm and London where more people are visiting the central business district since it started,” said MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan in an e-mailed statement. “What would really harm New York’s continuing recovery is starving subways of a desperately needed source of funding after decades of underinvestment.
“Congestion Pricing means faster emergency response times, cleaner air and better service for how most New Yorkers travel, so it’s disappointing the former Governor is flip-flopping on his support for that,” the rep said.
Cuomo resigned as governor under the threat of impeachment after a slew of women accused him of sexual misconduct or harassment — claims he has denied.
Since then, he has sought to climb back to relevancy and even pave the way for a political comeback at some point.
Under the congestion pricing plan, passenger car drivers entering Manhattan south of 60th Street during daytime hours would be charged $15 and $3.75 off-peak.
The fee for small trucks would be $24, while large trucks would be charged $36 during daytime hours. At night, those tolls would be discounted to $6 and $9, respectively, to move traffic-jamming deliveries out of commuting hours.
Some Democrats in New Jersey, including Gov. Phil Murphy, have vociferously opposed the implementation of congestion pricing. Some New York suburban and upstate Democrats are also coming out against the toll.
Republicans in New York have said they intend to use the issue against Democratic opponents in the 2024 elections.
The tolling program is backed by mass transit and environmental advocates and some business groups, including the Real Estate Board of New York.
But advocates for the Broadway Theater District worry the congestion toll will discourage regional tourists from coming in to see a show.
