They tried trolling over congestion tolling.
New Jersey tried to buy $500,000 worth of digital anti-congestion pricing ads near local bridges, tunnels and in the new Manhattan toll zone — but the MTA rejected the campaign as too political.
The ads promote the New Jersey Rise program, which rewards New York-based firms with grants if they allow their employees who typically commute across the Hudson to instead work in the Garden State.
“Aren’t you tired of this? You deserve better. NEW JERSEY RISE can help you work from New Jersey,” says the ad campaign, sponsored by the NJ Economic Development Authority with the backing of Gov. Phil Murphy.
It shows a picture of a smartphone showing a map of the New Jersey and New York sides of the Hudson with the message about time sitting in traffic, “New York. Same Time Tomorrow??”
But the MTA said the ad “alludes to congestion pricing” and would impact “a significant source of future income for the MTA,” and that the “MTA does not allow advocacy in ad messages,” according to Garden State officials.
“Not approved. Determined to be a political ad. Must use different/non-political ad message,” the MTA said, according to Jersey sources.
One of the rejected digital billboards was by the 11th Avenue approach to the Lincoln tunnel.
Murphy’s office slammed what he considered ad censorship by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
“The MTA doesn’t want to face the truth: congestion pricing is an unfair cash grab that will line the agency’s coffers at the expense of New Jersey commuters,” said Murphy spokesperson Natalie Hamilton.
She referred to The Post’s expose on the billions of unpaid tolls and violations that deadbeat drivers owe the MTA.
“Just this week, we saw yet another example of how terribly the MTA continues to mismanage its finances, with billions in unpaid tolls flushed down the drain,” Hamiton said. “As this unfair scheme continues, we invite New York City companies to give their employees who are New Jersey residents the opportunity to work in their home state.”
MTA brass defended the ad rejection and suggested Murphy was anti-public transit.
“Maybe the ad showing long travel times in the Lincoln Tunnel was rejected because it’s outdated and false,” said John McCarthy, the MTA’s chief of policy and external relations.
“Governor Murphy should instead use his bottomless taxpayer-funded advertising budget to apologize to constituents for not improving their commutes, McCarthy said. “The only good thing that’s happened to failing NJ Transit during Murphy’s tenure is recent faster bus speeds through the Lincoln and Holland – delivered by NYC congestion relief.
“You’re welcome.”
The MTA has had a ban on political ads for quite some time but what is considered political or advocacy has sometimes been up for debate.
In 2018, The Post reported on a fawning public service subway ad featuring ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who was then running for re-election.
The ad showed a beaming Cuomo with children who have received organ transplants, and were paid for by the powerful health care workers union Local 1199/SEIU and the lobbying group representing New York City’s hospitals.
The MTA defended the ad at the time.
New York governors exert extraordinary influence over the MTA, through the appointments of board members and chairman/CEO.
Last June, Gov. Kathy Hochul ordered the MTA to pause a planned $15 congestion toll to enter Manhattan south of 60th Street, with revenues used to finance the transit agency’s capital construction program.
In November following the elections, she pushed through a lower $9 toll that was approved by the MTA board.
In 2015, the agency yanked 1,000 ads paid for by labor-friendly Amalgamated Bank that read: “Raising the minimum wage lifts up all New Yorkers. Join the bank that fights for working families.”
