Travel
Hochul travels to rival’s turf and attacks critics of MTA’s congestion pricing plan
Gov. Kathy Hochul traveled to a Putnam County district represented by a potential Republican rival Wednesday to make the case that her critics are out of touch when they attack her support for public transportation, including congestion pricing.
Hochul boarded a Metro-North train car to highlight some $3 million in renovations at the Garrison train station, where platforms that run alongside the Hudson River had been crumbling after decades of water erosion.
She expressed support for the largest capital program in the history of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, a $68.4 billion plan that would, among other things, finance new subway and commuter rail cars and harden stations against sea level rise. The MTA is seeking the state’s financial backing for half of the spending plan.
“Failure is not an option,” Hochul said. “It will paralyze our whole region if these investments are not made.”
Hochul said the Hudson Valley, along with New York City and Long Island, could not function without the MTA.
“That region cannot function at the level it should if we do not have a high functioning, well financed, supported infrastructure system for public transportation,” Hochul said. “That is what I am committing to with this and those who do not support this and want everybody just to drive cars in, they don’t even know their own numbers.”
Hochul accuses critics of ‘weaponizing’ transportation issues
When prompted, the Democratic governor accused Rep. Mike Lawler, whose Hudson Valley congressional district includes Putnam County, and others of “weaponizing” transportation issues for political gain while ignoring the needs of constituents. Lawler, who is said to be considering a run for governor next year, has attacked Hochul for supporting congestion pricing, a pro-transit plan to toll most drivers $9 to enter Manhattan’s central business district at 60th Street and below.
Some two-thirds of Putnam County residents who work in the central business district take the train to work, MTA Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber said.
“I did ask Mike Lawler when he came to threaten me about congestion pricing, ‘Would you do something to help the MTA?’ “ Lieber said. “We are 45% of the nation’s mass transit riders. We get 17% federal money. You’re in the majority, sir. Can you help us? Not a word in response.”
“That’s your answer,” Hochul said.
Less than two years before the next governor’s election, public transportation is emerging as a bright dividing line between Hochul and potential challengers, with congestion pricing a clear target. In a Siena College poll released Wednesday, 51% of registered New York voters opposed the new congestion pricing plan. Among downstate suburbanites, the percentage increased to 60%.
In June, Hochul decided to pause the MTA’s congestion pricing plan, saying a proposed $15 toll would be unfair to working New Yorkers. After November’s elections, she pivoted, throwing her support behind the cheaper $9 toll, which increases to $12 in 2028 and $15 in 2031 for passenger vehicles.
Putnam rep on MTA board: Feds need to help finance MTA
The plan goes into effect on Jan. 5, barring any successful legal challenges. Opposition has come from lawmakers in the Lower Hudson Valley and New Jersey. Lawler has dubbed it a “cash grab” that will penalize working and middle-class New Yorkers and that will “bail out” the MTA.
It will generate some $15 billion in funding for the MTA’s capital plan for the years 2020 through 2024.
Neal Zuckerman, Putnam County’s representative on the MTA board, said the federal government needs to kick in so the state and MTA customers aren’t stuck with the full tab for financing the MTA. “Our infrastructure supports not just New York but the country,” Zuckerman said.
Thomas C. Zambito covers energy, transportation and economic growth for the USA Today Network’s New York State team. He’s won dozens of state and national writing awards from the Associated Press, Investigative Reporters and Editors, the Deadline Club and others during a decades-long career that’s included stops at the New York Daily News, The Star-Ledger of Newark and The Record of Hackensack. He can be reached at tzambito@lohud.com.
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