Former Governor Cuomo was against congestion pricing, but now tells the New York Times he supports it.
(New York, NY) – Is Andrew Cuomo for or against Manhattan Congestion Pricing? That likely depends on when you ask him, or at least — when you asked him. As first noted in the New York Post, Cuomo put forth a very fine “flip flop” regarding congestion pricing. Despite writing an Op-Ed opposing the MTA tolling program last year, now he tells the New York Times that he’s all for it.
The back and forth is especially frustrating given that Cuomo championed the tolling program back when he was governor — picking up where former Mayor Michael Bloomberg first started the whole thing. And with the $9 average toll in place for motorists entering Manhattan south of 60th Street — it seems Cuomo thinks it’s been a success.
To be fair, Cuomo’s Op-Ed was written at a time when the average toll was $15. Eventually, Governor Kathy Hochul cut the fee to $9 before implementing the program. Also, Cuomo said his main beef with congestion pricing was “forcing” New Yorkers into the subways — explaining that’s dangerous. But with transit crime down 4.5% since Cuomo put pen to paper for the Post, maybe he no longer feels that way.
Cuomo told the Times: “All I said was, let’s study this before we do it in this moment, to make sure people aren’t going to say, ‘you know what, another reason for me to stay home.'”
Republican Curtis Sliwa, a longtime host on 77 WABC and the GOP’s candidate for mayor (he’s running unopposed in the primary) sounded off on what he sees as a Cuomo “flip flop.” Sliwa said: “Andrew Cuomo isn’t interested in governing, he’s already scheming for the national stage. He’s the king of flip flops, who stands for nothing, puts himself above everyone, and says whatever he thinks will help him get ahead.” The “national stage” dig was a reference to rumors that Cuomo is more interested in eventually being president.
Meanwhile, the Cuomo campaign has fired back at all of this — in particular the congestion pricing “flip flop” claim. Spokeswoman Esther Jensen said: “Governor Cuomo passed congestion pricing in 2019 and nearly two years ago – after being held up for years in Washington – asked the reasonable question about whether we were in the right place economically in our post-pandemic recovery and whether or not drivers had enough confidence in the subways to ditch their cars, or were they just going to work remotely. These were logical questions that many people were asking. As the governor said yesterday – the indicators are that the program is working.”
Of course, many businesses have noted they are dealing with reduced volume and ability to serve customers as vehicular traffic as declined. It’s also not entirely clear what inflationary pressure congestion pricing has put on the cost of consumer goods and services in Manhattan.
