Scrap the congestion “tariff.”
Opponents of congestion pricing ripped Gov. Kathy Hochul Monday as two-faced for opposing President Trump’s Canadian tariffs — but imposing her own $9 tax on drivers entering Midtown.
“Governor Kathy Hochul erected a tariff — a paywall — in the middle of Manhattan, and extolled its benefits for more than two years, but, now, suddenly, the New York governor is a freewheeling free trader,” said Joshua Bienstock, spokesman for the group Keep NYC Congestion Tax Free.
“This rank hypocrisy cannot escape notice, even in cynical New York,” he said. “Governor Kathy Hochul’s congestion tax will economically harm New York City, New York State, and all who reside there.”
Bienstock continued, “We challenge Mrs. Hochul to keep true to her statements against tariffs by tearing down the Congestion Pricing Tax paywall monitors from midtown Manhattan, starting today.”
Hochul’s office had no immediate comment.
The Democrat has slammed Trump’s decision to impose 25% tariffs on Canadian goods, saying retaliatory tariffs on New York goods and products will damage the Empire State’s economy.
New York shares a huge northern border with Canada and there’s $23 billion in trade between the state and the Canucks, she said.
“A tariff is nothing but a backdoor tax. We have to stand up and say, ‘This is wrong,’” Hochul said Monday during a press conference.
But critics charged that the new congestion toll — implemented last month to motorists entering Manhattan south of 60th Street — is just another tax on driving commuters.
The controversial first-in-the-nation program — which will partially fund the the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s construction and maintenance program and aims to curb traffic and pollution — is a potential target to be rescinded by the new Trump administration.
During the campaign and after winning the White House, Trump railed against the toll.
His key New York appointees — former Congress members Lee Zeldin as Environmental Protection Agency secretary and Marc Molinaro as likely appointee to the Federal Transit Administration, are opponents as well.
Hochul, during personal conversations with Trump last week, defended the congestion pricing as a boost for mass transit and mobility and urged the president to back off.
Congestion pricing backers said comparing tariffs to a toll — a user fee — is off base and sounds desperate.
“This is more spaghetti being thrown against the wall,” said Lisa Daglian, exeuctive director of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA (PCAC).
“One doesn’t have anything to do with the other. Drivers benefit from congestion pricing with less traffic and improved transit.”
