The MTA’s apical honcho connected Tuesday said he’s successful nan acheronian astir talks betwixt Gov. Kathy Hochul and lawmakers to perchance revive congestion pricing pinch a toll little than $15.
“I don’t cognize thing astir what’s being talked about, if thing is being talked about,” Janno Lieber, nan agency’s chair and CEO, said Tuesday astatine an unrelated property conference.
Lieber’s declaration came aft The New York Times reported immoderate authorities lawmakers had been pushing Hochul to tweak nan arguable programme she put connected region conscionable weeks earlier it was slated to begin.
Lowering nan toll to thrust into Manhattan beneath 60th Street would reap little money for nan Metropolitan Transportation Authority, but still salvage nan first-in-the-nation program, nan Times reported that lawmakers hoped.
Hochul didn’t corroborate aliases contradict nan reported discussions erstwhile asked astir them Tuesday.
“I said I’ll beryllium continuing to person conversations pinch nan leaders of nan legislature and members of cardinal committees. I’ve already started those conversations,” Hochul told reporters during an arena announcing that pools astatine New York authorities parks will beryllium free this summer.
“As I said, each task that is important, and they each are important, will beryllium funded,” she added, referring to nan MTA’s warnings that immoderate planned strategy upgrades will request to beryllium deferred owed to Hochul indefinitely delaying nan congestion pricing plan.
The governor, who has said that scrapping nan $15 toll, astatine slightest temporarily, made consciousness arsenic New Yorkers look a cost-of-living crisis, maintained that argument.
“It’s conscionable not nan correct time,” she said. “We will find nan financing and these conversations are very overmuch underway.”
But Lieber’s uncover that those conversations person truthful acold bypassed him underscored really nan MTA is efficaciously successful nan governmental wilderness erstwhile it comes to efforts to prevention congestion pricing, aliases astatine slightest replace nan $15 billion it would person raised for high-profile transit projects.
On apical of that uncertainty, immoderate timeline is perchance further imperiled by nan upcoming statesmanlike election. Former President Donald Trump, nan presumptive Republican nominee, has promised to scrap nan toll.
Sources told The Post that, contempt nan politician calling astir to lawmakers, legislative leaders haven’t been presented pinch a tangible connection surrounding congestion pricing.
State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal (D-Manhattan), who said he has received much calls and comments to his agency connected this rumor than immoderate other, expressed support for making nan toll little costly complete not implementing it wholly — particularly fixed nan likelihood Trump will unravel it if he takes agency again.
Hoylman-Sigal said he said pinch nan governor, but didn’t want to get into specifics connected their talks.
“The extremity should beryllium mend it don’t extremity it,” he said.
“I deliberation we request to person our programme successful spot and moving to guarantee we person a fighting chance to prevention our wide transit system from collapse.”
State Sen. Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan), chair of nan Senate’s powerful finance committee and a vocal supporter of congestion pricing, said she besides has spoken pinch Hochul astir reversing nan region connected nan program.
Krueger told Hochul that she would see tweaking specifics of nan scheme, including lowering nan toll, arsenic agelong arsenic nan programme still met its objectives of decreasing congestion and helping trim down connected pollution.
But she said that’s not capable to return nan bonzer measurement of calling backmost nan Legislature to ballot connected changes.
“Unless there’s an existent connection from nan politician to discuss pinch nan legislature, location would beryllium nary logic to come back,” Krueger said.
“I’ll travel backmost erstwhile there’s a logic aliases an statement to travel back,” Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) told reporters Friday.
In a lengthy connection released aft nan MTA made a largely-symbolic vote to spell on pinch nan region past week, Hochul moreover insinuated that a solution to nan statement whitethorn beryllium punted until adjacent year’s authorities fund talks.
“I will proceed to activity successful business pinch nan State Legislature to instrumentality comprehensive solutions and guarantee due backing sources successful adjacent year’s budget,” Hochul’s connection said successful part.
Krueger and others questioned nan feasibility of altering specifics of nan scheme, specified arsenic nan toll amount, successful nan short term, fixed nan galore hoops progressive successful getting support for nan program.
Some judge that adjusting nan toll magnitude would mean revising nan existing statement pinch nan feds, which could return months to activity done nan bureaucracy again.
“Tinkering pinch nan toll levels whitethorn require further national review,” Rachael Fauss, Senior Policy Advisor astatine Reinvent Albany, a group pushing for congestion pricing, told The Post.
“Until nan Governor puts guardant a existent connection that has each nan benefits of congestion pricing, location tin beryllium nary real, nationalist chat astir alternatives. The rule arsenic written remains nan only viable action to money nan MTA and trim congestion,” Fauss said.
But immoderate lawmakers specified arsenic Assemblyman Gary Pretlow, a Democrat from Mount Vernon pinch Metro-North stops successful his district, aren’t successful a unreserved to revive tolls.
“I’d beryllium perfectly happy if congestion pricing stays underwater and drowns to death,” he quipped.
— Additional reporting by Desheania Andrews
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