Elected officials, advocates react to Gov. Kathy Hochul's congestion pricing delay

Reactions to Gov. Kathy Hochul's announcement Wednesday that there'd be an indefinite delay of congestion pricing ran from "total betrayal" to "great news." 

Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine called the decision to stall congestion pricing “great news for hardworking Suffolk County families who must travel to Manhattan to make a living. With inflation making it harder every day for families to make ends meet, levying yet another tax on the backs of the working class is not the answer.”

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, speaking to WABC/7 News, said Hochul’s about-face came after she heard   “from so many people that this was a really bad idea … It was bad for Manhattan. It was bad for the outer boroughs. It was bad for Long Island.”

Pete Sikora, a senior adviser at New York Communities for Change, at a rally outside of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s Manhattan office Wednesday, called the announcement an irresponsible betrayal. “Congestion pricing is absolutely necessary or the region is going to implode. The governor is kicking us in the face,” he said.

Julie Tighe, president of the New York League of Conservation Voters, said the benefits of congestion pricing are not limited to New York City residents. “Congestion pricing is going to help by reducing the number of cars on the road by incentivizing people to get out of their cars and into mass transit. Congestion pricing will provide funding for the MTA, 10% of which has to go to the Long Island Rail Road,” she said.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn) spokesman Andy Eichar said Jeffries “has maintained neutrality with respect to the congestion pricing policy debate. Nothing has changed in that regard. To the extent immediate implementation of congestion pricing is being reconsidered, Leader Jeffries supports a temporary pause of limited duration to better understand the financial impact on working class New Yorkers,” he said in a statement.

Rep. Anthony D'Esposito (R-Island Park), who has supported the Town of Hempstead’s lawsuit to stop congestion pricing, said the news indicates Hochul “is realizing her constant nickel and diming of taxpayers is widely loathed across New York.”

State Sen. Monica Martinez (D-Brentwood), said “the need to reduce emissions for the health of our region … must not be achieved by driving residents, businesses and workers out of the city. I hope this pause will allow time to switch gears toward a more workable solution for Manhattan’s traffic woes.”

Nassau County Democratic Minority Leader Delia DeRiggi-Whitton (D-Glen Cove) said she “fully” supports Hochul’s move, which, “takes into consideration the fact that many of our residents and small businesses are still struggling to make ends meet.”

Long Island Association president and CEO Matt Cohen said Hochul made “the absolute right decision,” adding the region is facing “an existential affordability crisis, which is why this is the wrong time to be saddling New York residents and businesses with additional cost burdens.”

Kate Slevin, executive vice president of the Regional Plan Association, called Hochul's move “a total betrayal of New Yorkers and our climate.” She said a delay of congestion pricing “will only hurt millions of transit riders relying on improvements and hinder the economic success of our broader region.”

Former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's spokesman, Richard Azzopardi, called congestion pricing “the right policy at the wrong time.” While acknowledging Cuomo pushed for its passage five years ago, “much has changed in New York City and New York State since then — as our current elected leaders are now admitting.”

With Tom Brune and Candice Ferrette