New York Governor Kathy Hochul abruptly announced an indefinite delay of Congestion Pricing after TWU International President John Samuelsen relentlessly attacked the proposed rollout scheduled to begin at the end of June. Hochul claimed that the $15 toll on drivers entering Manhattan below 60th Street would hurt average New Yorkers.
But in repeated print, radio and television interviews, Samuelsen said the abrupt change was due to concerns that congestion pricing could negatively affect New York area Democrats running for office later this year.
“I told the governor two years ago that if she imposed the congestion toll without increases in transit service, it would be a political disaster,” Samuelsen told the New York Post in an interview.
Samuelsen argued months ago in a television interview that Democrats in swing districts were increasingly vulnerable because of opposition to congestion pricing.
Since last year, Samuelsen has vocally criticized Hochul and the MTA for “failing to meet” the moment by not making a massive investment in new and increased mass transit prior to any congestion pricing implementation.
He quit the Traffic Mobility Review Board in protest in November over Hochul and MTA Chairman Janno Lieber’s stubborn refusal to provide better transit to blue-collar New Yorkers with expanded express bus service to under-served neighborhoods in the outer boroughs, and the suburbs outside the city.
“It was a betrayal of blue-collar New York,” Samuelsen told ABC 7 NY. “This had to be accompanied by new service. It couldn’t just be accompanied by the slap of a toll and no added benefit for working people beyond what they already have.”
Samuelsen told the New York Daily News that Hochul’s move was motivated by pure politics and not any actual desire to improve the lives of commuters and congestion in crowded Manhattan.
“I think this kills [congestion pricing] until after November,” Samuelsen told the Daily News, referring to upcoming elections. “This is [MTA chairman] Janno Lieber’s ‘let the outer boroughs eat cake’ moment. The Governor’s decision to back the plan was “a total abrogation of Hochul’s responsibility to working class New Yorkers.”