Late Wednesday morning, Gov. Kathy Hochul paused the rollout of congestion pricing indefinitely, citing concerns over the economic impact the tolling program might have on everyday New Yorkers.
By then, reactions from both sides of the political aisle, as well as from transit advocates, had already been pouring in for hours, as reports that the governor might pause the rollout trickled out in the early morning hours.
The first-in-the-nation tolling program was slated to launch on June 30, and would have charged drivers a fee to enter 60th Street and below in Manhattan.
Since its inception, congestion pricing has revealed deep ideological divides between those for and against the program, and many have taken to social media to clarify where they stand on the latest developments.
Below, we’ve compiled a running list of statement of elected public leaders, transit advocates and more:
New York City Mayor Eric Adams
Speaking at an unrelated news conference on Staten Island, Mayor Eric Adams said he had spoken with the governor multiple times in recent days and signaled he’d continue to be aligned with her position on congestion pricing should she choose to pause it. His comments took place before she officially stated her plan to indefinitely pause congestion pricing.
“You’ve asked me over and over about congestion pricing, and I say that we have to get it right,” Adams said, speaking with reporters. “We have to make sure that it’s not a dual burden on everyday New Yorkers. We have to make sure that it’s not going to impact our recovery. We got to the point of more jobs in the city’s history because we have been supporting the recovery effort. And I think that if she’s looking at analyzing what other ways we can do it and how we do it correctly, I’m all for it. We have to get it right. This is a major shift in our city and it must be done correctly.”
Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella
Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella filed one of the lawsuits protesting the plan.
“I think the short answer, this is good news,” Fossella told NY1 of the news of the pause. “Let’s hope it’s put into the ground for good.”
Fossella said he hopes the legislature rescinds the law to take congestion pricing off the table entirely.
“I would hope, and the ideal is, that the legislature says, ‘Hey, listen, we misread this,’ or we misunderstood the implications,” he said.
“It’s OK to say, ‘Hey, we misread this thing. Let’s change our mind and let’s change our vote, and let’s look for another way to fund the MTA, and to fund ways to get commuters in and around the region,'” he added.
State Senator Liz Krueger (D, District 28)
State Senator Liz Krueger, who is the chair of the Senate’s Finance Committee, called the decision “a staggering error.”
In a statement posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, Krueger said, in part, that Hochul has “single-handledly created a financial and fiduciary crisis for the MTA Board, which is the body charged with making any decision regarding implementation of congestion pricing.”
“They have done so after a years-long process to create a plan that has been thoroughly thought through and vetted, and would distribute the cost of supporting our regionally-critical transportation network throughout the region it serves,” Krueger’s statement said. “The Governor is now tearing all of that up on a political whim.”
Krueger said the MTA board has a “legal and fiduciary responsibility to find an alternative source of funds or open themselves and the MTA up to lawsuits over multiple contractual agreements that have already been put in place.”
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R, NY-11)
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, a Republican, celebrated the decision, claiming it was a result of lawsuits and mounting political pressure as election season ramps up.
“Today’s announcement by the governor that she’s indefinitely postponing congestion pricing is a direct response to our lawsuits and immense political pressure from residents, businesses and common sense elected officials,” Malliotakis said in a statement. “While this news is very welcome and makes me extremely happy as someone who has fought congestion pricing for five years, it comes as the Democrats face horrific poll numbers.”
Rep. Pat Ryan (D, NY-18)
Rep. Pat Ryan said he has been fighting against the “unfair, uninformed, and unacceptable” plan since day one.
“Today, I’m proud to say we’ve stopped congestion pricing in its tracks,” Ryan said in a statement. “Now it’s time to get to work on a plan that actually makes sense for the entire state, not just New York City, including commitments to significant service additions and meaningful discounts for public servants. I’ll continue to stand up to anyone, regardless of party, who tries to rip off hard-working Hudson Valley families.”
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D, NY-12)
“As a longtime champion of Congestion Pricing and the Congressional Representative of a significant portion of the Central Business Business District (CBD), I am disappointed by reports that Governor Hochul will not implement Congestion Pricing on June 30, as previously planned,” a statement from Rep. Jerry Nadler reads, in part. “After years of delays, we need congestion pricing now more than ever to reduce paralyzing vehicle traffic in the Central Business District, improve air quality in our city and region, and raise desperately needed capital funds to enhance the public transit system that millions depend on.”
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D, NY-15)
“The Governor has announced that she will indefinitely delay congestion pricing. Left unmentioned in the announcement is the answer to a fundamental question: If the revenue for the MTA’s urgently needed $15 billion capital plan is not coming from congestion pricing, then where exactly is the money coming from?” a statement from Rep. Torres reads, in part.
“The central concern is not so much congestion pricing as it is the preservation of a public transit system that is too big to fail. Make no mistake: without the funding it needs, the MTA will fail and New York will become a shadow of its former self.”
Transport Workers Union
“This debacle was wholly caused by Governor Kathy Hochul letting MTA Chair Janno Lieber lead her around like a stooge,” Transport Workers Union International President John Samuelsen said in a statement. “Congestion pricing without massive upfront new service increases is a betrayal of blue-collar New Yorkers from the outer boroughs and suburbs.”
Samuelsen also spoke to NY1, where he said the plan “should have never been implemented without corresponding increases in service bus side and subway side.”
“That’s a betrayal of working people and she’s paying the price for it now,” he said, referring to the governor.
Riders Alliance
Groups like Riders Alliance were quick to protest Hochul’s decision, gathering outside the governor’s Manhattan office.
“Congestion pricing is the only public policy that will fix subway, speed up miserably slow bus service, and clear our air as we enter wildfire season,” said Danny Pearlstein of Riders Alliance.
Transportation Alternatives
Elizabeth Adams, the deputy executive director for public affairs at Transportation Alternatives, called the potential delay a “slap in the face to the millions of New Yorkers who rely on public transportation every day just to appease the program’s loudest foes.”
Josh Gottheimer (D, NJ-5)
“After a five year fight, New York appears to have done right by hardworking Jersey families and backed off their outrageous Congestion Tax,” Rep. Gottheimer’s statement reads, in part.
“I want to thank Governor Hochul, Governor Murphy, Fort Lee Mayor Sokolich, all involved elected officials, and especially the tireless advocates who focused on the key facts: The Congestion Tax would have caused more traffic and cancer-causing pollution for families in northern Jersey and the outer boroughs.”
New Yorkers Against Congestion Pricing
“A small business owner said to me, ‘Susan, they’re going to stop coming to Chinatown to buy the stuff, the ethnic goods that they need to make Chinese food or Vietnamese food, because of that $15 tax,'” Susan Lee of New Yorkers Against Congestion Pricing told NY1. “So it really is going to hurt everyone, not just people who drive.”
