Hochul: “Let’s be real: a $15 charge may not mean a lot to someone who has the means, but it can break the budget of a working- or middle-class household. It puts the squeeze on the very people who make this City go: the teachers, first responders, small business workers, bodega owners. And given these financial pressures, I cannot add another burden to working- and middle-class New Yorkers – or create another obstacle to continued recovery.”
Hochul: “We remain fully committed to advancing all the improvements that New Yorkers have been promised. That includes immediate investments in reliability and accessibility: track repairs, new signals, adding more elevators at subway and commuter stations. It means security cameras and other technologies to improve safety for riders throughout the system. And it means moving forward with transformative projects, like the extension of the Second Avenue Subway and the Interborough Express.”
I want to talk to you today about issues that are very much on the minds of New Yorkers. First and foremost, I understand the financial pressures you're facing. Over the last five years, New Yorkers have seen the price of groceries alone go up an average of 23 percent. Think about the cost of a dozen eggs more than doubling from $1.20 to $2.86 all over our country.
Housing prices have increased by 17 percent. The cost of child care has gone up almost 20 percent. And the strain on working- and middle-class families is just too much. That’s why, since becoming your governor, one of my priorities has been to address affordability and keep putting more money back in your pockets.
That's why I fought to raise the minimum wage and tie it to inflation, double tuition assistance, held a line on income taxes and invested billions in affordable child care. Our policies must support everyday New Yorkers — like our small businesspeople, police officers, firefighters, teachers, health care workers, truck drivers, and not add to their financial burdens.
So, let's talk about congestion pricing, which would impose a $15 charge on cars entering Midtown and below, beginning in just a few weeks. Now, it was enacted five years ago to achieve two essential goals: reduce traffic and emissions in New York City and provide a funding stream for much needed capital investments in public transit.
It was also enacted in a pre-pandemic period where workers were in the office five days a week, crime was at record lows and tourism was at record highs. Circumstances have changed and we must respond to the facts on the ground — not from the rhetoric from five years ago. So, after careful consideration, I have come to the difficult decision that implementing the planned congestion pricing system risks too many unintended consequences for New Yorkers at this time.
For that reason, I have directed the MTA to indefinitely pause the program. Now, I want to be clear. My team worked into the final hours to find a way to implement this because the goals of congestion pricing change — in terms of reducing traffic and pollution — are important. But hard-working New Yorkers are getting hammered on costs and they and the economic vitality of our City must be protected.
We cannot ignore the facts. Literally the year after the enactment of the law, New York City was the epicenter of the pandemic. It was the first and hardest hit of all U.S. Cities. Many predicted New York would not recover. Well, thanks to hard working and committed New Yorkers, those doomsayers have been proven wrong.
But while our recovery has been stronger and swifter than anyone imagined, it is by no means complete. And we cannot afford to undercut this momentum, and I won’t allow this delicate recovery to be jeopardized.
Anyone walking through midtown Manhattan or riding the subway, they have seen it: streets and train cars are crowded Tuesday to Thursday, but much less so on Monday and Friday. Office attendance is down compared to before the pandemic, with many workers only commuting-in two or three days a week at most. And Manhattan currently has a commercial vacancy rate of over 20 percent.
This reduction in foot traffic has an enormous ripple effect, with fewer people patronizing restaurants, delis and dry cleaners. The idea behind congestion pricing is that it will encourage many current drivers to shift to public transit.
But there is a third possibility that now poses a greater threat than it did at the program’s inception. Drivers can now choose to stay home altogether, telling employers they need to work fully remote again. Or they might just change their patterns and skip the visits to the City on a Saturday with their family or going out to the theater or a restaurant.
At a time when inflation is still cutting into New Yorkers’ hard earned wages, the concern is that many would do exactly that. Or that one more added cost would make residents rethink living or working here altogether, hurting our recovery even more.
Let’s be real: a $15 charge may not mean a lot to someone who has the means, but it can break the budget of a working- or middle-class household. It puts the squeeze on the very people who make this City go: the teachers, first responders, small business workers, bodega owners. And given these financial pressures, I cannot add another burden to working- and middle-class New Yorkers – or create another obstacle to continued recovery.
Now, let me be very clear: I remain committed to these investments in public transit. We need to make MTA service more accessible and reliable, without the projected revenue having to come just from congestion pricing. And given the lawsuits and many other attacks on this process, we have already had to prepare for the possibility that congestion pricing could be delayed.
We have set aside funding to backstop the MTA Capital Plan, and are currently exploring other funding sources. We remain fully committed to advancing all the improvements that New Yorkers have been promised. That includes immediate investments in reliability and accessibility: track repairs, new signals, adding more elevators at subway and commuter stations.
It means security cameras and other technologies to improve safety for riders throughout the system. And it means moving forward with transformative projects, like the extension of the Second Avenue Subway and the Interborough Express.
We will tackle congestion in other ways, building on our partnership with the City of New York to make the quality of life better for all residents.
Let me be equally as clear, my commitment to a greener, more sustainable future is unwavering. I have been more committed to combating climate change and protecting our environment than any governor in our history. And I'll continue working with our legislature to make urgently needed investments, including a nation leading cap and invest program that'll hold major polluters responsible for their carbon emissions and drive billions of dollars for clean energy.
I've directed historic investments to develop offshore wind power along the coast of Long Island. And to advance a $6 billion project to tap into hydropower in Quebec, bring it to the City. We're investing in electric vehicle charging and shifting cars and vehicles in New York to all electric over the next decade. And electrifying buildings and homes. And we have much more to do.
I want to say this. I recognize and am so grateful for the individuals from the MTA, the community, the advocates for their countless hours and hard work on this initiative. Thank you. And we will continue to pursue our environmental objectives, even as we pause congestion pricing. We will continue to find strategies to address congestion. And we will continue to find solutions that benefit both our planet and our people.
This decision is about doing what's right for the people who make our City thrive. It's about standing up for the hard-working men and women who get up every single day, do their jobs and just want a fair shake. The little guy who feels no one listens to them. I'm here to say, we are listening. This decision is about you. And to those cynics who question my motivation, I approach every decision through one lens. What is best for New Yorkers? And we need to make sure our solutions work for everyone – especially those who are struggling to make ends meet.
Finally, this is not a decision I make lightly. From the time I took office, I have been investing and monitoring to help the state's recovery. And expecting we'd be in a place to be able to implement congestion pricing on the proposed timetable. But in this moment of financial stress, high inflation and already the high cost of living for so many New Yorkers — my focus must be on putting more money back in people's pockets.
And that's why I must stand up for them. And say no to implementing the congestion pricing toll at this time. In the coming months. I'll work to continue working with the City, State and federal leaders to ensure we can achieve the objectives of congestion pricing without putting undue strain on already stressed New Yorkers.
There never is only one path forward. Together, I am confident we'll be able to deliver the world class public transit that riders deserve, ensure a cleaner planet for future generations — and to continue to fuel the vitality and the comeback of New York City. Thank you.
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