New York City Mayor Eric Adams said he was supportive of Governor Kathy Hochul and her abrupt decision on June 5 to indefinitely halt the planned congestion pricing program, at the weekly media press conference at City Hall on Tuesday.
The controversial move from the governor put a pause on a congestion pricing plan slated to charge tolls for various types of vehicles entering Midtown Manhattan below 60th Street. Had it been implemented as planned on June 30, it would have been the first congestion pricing plan in the nation.
“She made a decision. We need to support the governor,” said Adams. “When she made the final determination, we spoke that evening. I said, ‘Governor, whatever I could do to assist, these are difficult times and difficult challenges.’”
Adams said the governor shared her thoughts with him about two weeks prior to the announcement.
The pause on congestion pricing, which would have given the Metropolitan Transportation Authority about $15 billion in funds for various transit improvement projects, has gotten considerable flak from advocacy groups, including the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance, a nonprofit dedicated to environmental justice in overburdened communities of color.
“One year after our skies were covered orange and in the middle of a climate crisis, New York cannot desert plans that will reduce vehicular traffic congestion, improve public transit, and help us reach our climate targets,” said NYC-EJA in a released statement.
Adams said state officials will continue to work on plans to move forward, adding Hochul was "not a Buffalo-only governor."
“We've got to deal with congestion. We have to deal with environmental issues, but we should deliberate and make sure we get it right,” said Adams.
When asked whether the money lost from congestion pricing could be replaced by reinstating a stock transfer tax, Adams rejected the notion.
“The stock exchange, Wall Street, has changed … Wall Street is a major revenue driver,” Adams argued against such a tax. “When you start impacting these industries ... they pick up and leave.”
Many countries, such as the United Kingdom, France, Hong Kong and Switzerland all have some form of a functioning stock transfer tax. New York stopped collecting the tax, which charges 0.25% per stock transaction, and instead rebates it back to financial firms since 1981.
If fully reinstated, the stock transfer tax is estimated to raise up to $14 billion or more annually, according to New York State Assemblymember Phil Steck.
In other news, the mayor announced the city broke ground, in tandem with energy company Equinor, on one of the nation’s largest offshore wind ports at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal in Sunset Park. The 73-acre site will serve as the hub for Empire Wind 1, Equinor’s offshore wind project with the goal of delivering 9,000 megawatts of wind energy to New York by 2035.
The site will be used as a staging and pre-assembly area for turbine components. About 1,000 union green collar jobs will be created through the project, according to Equinor.
The project is expected to be up and running at the end of 2026.
