Tuesday, November 12, 2024
Year : 2, Issue: 11
ABC 7 New York: Elected officials on Staten Island came together on Tuesday to speak out against the potential return of congestion pricing.
Now that the election is over, rumblings of a revived congestion pricing plan are getting louder in New York.
Governor Kathy Hochul nixed the controversial proposal just weeks before it was set to go into effect at the beginning of this summer because the governor claimed she was worried drivers were paying too much.
Though it was also seen as a political move ahead of the general election.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers gathered on Staten Island to speak out against the prospect of the plan being reinstated.
“As people struggle to pay their rent, cover their groceries bills, and for my constituents who have some of the longest and most expensive commutes in the country, congestion pricing is just another tax,” said State Senator Jessica Scarcella-Spanton, (D) 23rd District.
“Congestion pricing is nothing more than a scam. It’s about raising a billion dollars so that the MTA can borrow $15 billion for its bloated and mismanaged operations and it needs to be stopped dead in its tracks,” said Rep. Mike Lawler, (D) New York.
Gov. Hochul appears to be taking steps to unpause congestion pricing and has floated the idea of lowering the toll from $15 down to $9 for most people driving into Manhattan below 60th Street.
