NEW YORK (PIX11) – Congestion pricing for Manhattan’s Central Business District has been delayed indefinitely, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Wednesday.
The plan was set to go into effect on June 30.
"Implementing the planned congestion pricing system risked too many unintended consequences for New Yorkers at this time," Hochul said in a pre-recorded statement on Wednesday.
Under the congestion pricing plan, car drivers traveling south of 60th Street would have to pay a $15 toll during peak hours. Truck drivers would be charged anywhere from $24 to $36, depending on their size.
The MTA projected the plan would bring in a revenue stream of $1 billion a year, which would be used to improve roads and commuter transit systems. The state government is looking into alternate ways to fund the MTA, Hochul said.
Hochul considered postponing it over fears of hurting the area’s economy, which hasn’t fully recovered from the COVID pandemic, sources told PIX11 News. She is looking into a business tax to generate revenue, which would affect New York City businesses, sources said.
"I cannot add another burden to working middle-class New Yorkers or create another obstacle to our continued recovery," Hochul said.
The tax would require approval from the state Legislature. The current legislative session ends Thursday.
The decision to suspend the implementation of congestion pricing comes just months before the 2024 election. The MTA had no comment on the delay.
"I communicated with the governor for the last few days, and I continue to say the governor is a partner," Mayor Eric Adams said when asked about the delay in congestion pricing during a press conference Wednesday. "I say that we have to get it right. We have to make sure that it's not a… burden on everyday New Yorkers."
"After a five year fight, New York appears to have done right by hardworking Jersey families and backed off their outrageous Congestion Tax," U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) said in a statement.
Assemblymember Robert Carroll, who represents Brooklyn, wrote on X that delaying the plan is a "terrible idea."
"Congestion Pricing will not only fund necessary MTA capital projects but also make NYC streets safer, air cleaner, and make our city more livable," he wrote on X.
City Councilmember Joe Borelli, of Staten Island, called the delay a win on X.
"We won," he wrote.
Erin Pflaumer is a digital content producer from Long Island who has covered both local and national news since 2018. She joined PIX11 in 2023. See more of her work here.