While Gov. Kathy Hochul is caught up in New York City’s mayoral troubles, with a divided administration and a former aide who has been charged as a Chinese Communist Party agent, she has lost sight of everyday New Yorkers. Instead of focusing on affordability and real solutions, she continues to push a failed congestion-pricing plan — even after the federal government rightfully ordered a stop to it.
Rather than moving on, the governor is now wasting even more taxpayer dollars on legal fees to fight Washington’s decision and to defend a deeply unpopular commuter tax. Congestion pricing does nothing to reduce traffic across New York City. It provides no toll-free alternative for drivers who rely on their vehicles for work, school or medical appointments. Worse, the toll rate was set primarily to raise revenue, not to ease congestion. This is just another way for Albany to squeeze more money from hardworking New Yorkers.
And they are tired of being treated like an ATM. Just weeks ago, Hochul proposed an $8 billion spending increase in her executive budget — without raising taxes. Yet at the same time, she is pushing a $1 billion congestion tax to bail out the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. If the money was already available, why does she insist on shaking down taxpayers yet again? This kind of fiscal mismanagement is exactly why so many families and businesses are fleeing New York in record numbers…