Scrap the congestion “tariff.”
Opponents of congestion pricing ripped Gov. Kathy Hochul Monday as two-faced for opposing President Trump’s Canadian tariffs — however imposing her personal $9 tax on drivers coming into Midtown.
“Governor Kathy Hochul erected a tariff — a paywall — in the midst of Manhattan, and extolled its advantages for greater than two years, however, now, all of a sudden, the New York governor is a freewheeling free dealer,” mentioned Joshua Bienstock, spokesman for the group Preserve NYC Congestion Tax Free.
“This rank hypocrisy can not escape discover, even in cynical New York,” he mentioned. “Governor Kathy Hochul’s congestion tax will economically hurt New York Metropolis, New York State, and all who reside there.”
Bienstock continued, “We problem Mrs. Hochul to maintain true to her statements towards tariffs by tearing down the Congestion Pricing Tax paywall displays from midtown Manhattan, beginning right this moment.”
Hochul’s workplace had no rapid remark.
The Democrat has slammed Trump’s determination to impose 25% tariffs on Canadian items, saying retaliatory tariffs on New York items and merchandise will harm the Empire State’s financial system.
New York shares an enormous northern border with Canada and there’s $23 billion in commerce between the state and the Canucks, she mentioned.
“A tariff is nothing however a backdoor tax. We have now to face up and say, ‘That is fallacious,’” Hochul mentioned Monday throughout a press convention.
However critics charged that the brand new congestion toll — carried out final month to motorists coming into Manhattan south of sixtieth Avenue — is simply one other tax on driving commuters.
The controversial first-in-the-nation program — which is able to partially fund the the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s development and upkeep program and goals to curb site visitors and air pollution — is a possible goal to be rescinded by the brand new Trump administration.
Through the marketing campaign and after successful the White Home, Trump railed towards the toll.
His key New York appointees — former Congress members Lee Zeldin as Environmental Safety Company secretary and Marc Molinaro as probably appointee to the Federal Transit Administration, are opponents as nicely.
Hochul, throughout private conversations with Trump final week, defended the congestion pricing as a lift for mass transit and mobility and urged the president to again off.
Congestion pricing backers mentioned evaluating tariffs to a toll — a consumer price — is off base and sounds determined.
“That is extra spaghetti being thrown towards the wall,” mentioned Lisa Daglian, exeuctive director of the Everlasting Residents Advisory Committee to the MTA (PCAC).
“One doesn’t have something to do with the opposite. Drivers profit from congestion pricing with much less site visitors and improved transit.”
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