Rep. Jeffries described Gov. Hochul’s decision as a “reasonable thing to do at this moment” during a news conference on August 5
Senate Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries praised the decision of New York Gov. Kathy Hochul to pause a controversial congestion pricing program even though it reportedly cost the Manhattan Transit Authority $15 billion.
According to Gothamist, Rep. Jeffries described Gov. Hochul’s decision as a “reasonable thing to do at this moment” during a news conference on August 5, which marked the groundbreaking of a $57 million project that will add elevators to the city’s Clausson Avenue station.
According to Jefferies, “I think that Gov. Hochul was obvious that she had cost-of-living concerns regarding congestion pricing that should be evaluated. I stayed neutral throughout the entire process, but I’ve supported the pause as a reasonable thing to do at this moment.”
Jefferies had supported the pause since Hochul announced her choice to pause the program on June 5. His office quickly approved a “temporary pause of limited duration to understand better the financial impact [of congestion pricing] on working-class New Yorkers.”
Although the program was touted by Danny Pearlstein, a spokesperson for Riders Alliance, a non-profit organization that advocates for better transit in New York, Hochul indicated that her decision to pause congestion pricing came from talking to everyday New Yorkers.
Although the cost of congestion pricing for the everyday driver would have increased the daily fee to enter a designated congestion zone in Manhattan to $15, transit advocates like Riders Alliance accused Gov. Hochul of orchestrating a political move.
Gov. Hochul and Rep. Jeffries, however, have denied such a collision, according to Jefferies,, “We did not discuss the impact adversely on the House of Representatives in connection with congestion pricing.”
Hochul, meanwhile, faces two lawsuits from environmental groups, including one from the Sierra Club, the aforementioned Riders Alliance, and the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance, which alleges that Hochul’s blockage of the program constitutes a violation of the New York State right to clean air and water promised to its citizens via the state Constitution.
According to Dror Landin, a lawyer for Earthjustice’s northeast regional office and lead attorney on the group’s lawsuit against Gov. Hochul, “The governor just took it away and said, ‘We’re not going to do that. That seems to be a pretty clear violation. Governor Hochul’s decision to block congestion pricing is totally inconsistent with the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act,” Ladin told the Sierra Club.
“It specifically gets us further away from our emissions goals.”
Source: Black Enterprise
