NYC congestion pricing could start by end of 2024 as Gov. Hochul aims for cheaper tolls, sources say
NEW YORK -- Gov. Kathy Hochul is moving forward with a plan to "unpause" congestion pricing soon by lowering the proposed New York City toll rates by 40%, sources tell CBS News New York.
Fresh off a lollapalooza of an Election Night that included the approval of Proposition 1 and U.S. House seats flipping blue, the governor told lawmakers and the MTA she intends to turn on the toll collection cameras that surround Manhattan's Central Business District.
Hochul wants congestion pricing to become a reality and drivers to start paying by the end of the year, multiple sources said.
A high-stakes game of chicken
Republican state lawmakers are vowing to delay the plan until President-elect Donald Trump assumes office, in a high-stakes game of chicken with the Democratic governor.
"It's still a cash grab. It's still a tax on hard working New Yorkers. We should not have to pay an additional toll to enter the city, center of the city in which we live," said Staten Island Republican Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis.
Hochul told MTA officials that drivers would pay $9 instead of $15 once congestion pricing begins, sources said.
"Is $9 better than 15? I think New Yorkers that are struggling, that worry about having enough money to feed their kids and put new sneakers on them when they outgrow them and stash some money for college," Hochul told reporters in Puerto Rico last week. "This is what I've been saying all along, $15 is too much."
Congestion pricing plan on verge of approval, sources say
New York City, state and federal officials have to give the green light before congestion pricing tolls can be collected. The MTA would also have to approve the lower rates.
Documents have already been signed by the feds and city officials, according to sources. The last signature needed would be from State Transportation Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez, a Hochul appointee.
Malliotakis said she and her supporters want to delay the plan until Trump takes office in January 2025.
"We will try to look at every possible angle to fight it legislatively and legally," Malliotakis said. "At the end of the day, the governor should listen to the will of the people. The will of the people, overwhelmingly in New York City alone, is that two-thirds opposed this congestion tax and that's not even surveying the people in Long Island, in the Hudson Valley."
Sources said state officials plan to meet with environmentalists and others who filed suit to restart congestion pricing to get their sign-off on the new plan.
Malliotakis said if Hochul succeeds in activating the toll cameras, she and other officials will take it to court. The governor seems willing to roll the dice.
