When Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York brought congestion pricing to a screeching halt in June, many speculated that the decision was politically motivated.
Ms. Hochul had pledged to do everything in her power to support Democrats in November, particularly in key House races in the Hudson Valley and on Long Island, where the party lost ground in the 2022 midterms, and where the tolling plan was particularly toxic.
The governor insisted that economics, not politics, was behind her decision. Even so, with congestion pricing off the table, New York was one of the few states where Democrats gained House seats.
But now Ms. Hochul’s decision on Thursday to reinstate the plan, even at a deeply discounted price, may have brought some risk to another election: her own, in 2026.
Emboldened by their electoral victories, Republicans pledged to do whatever was necessary to stop the plan, while suburban Democrats on Long Island and in the Hudson Valley dismissed the toll reduction — to $9 for most drivers, from $15 — as insufficient.
Central
Park
QUEENS
60th
Street
Ed Koch
Queensboro
Bridge
Central Business District
Tolling Program area
Queens-
Midtown
Tunnel
Lincoln
Tunnel
Roads
excluded
from toll
EAST RIVER
HUDSON RIVER
MANHATTAN
Williamsburg
Bridge
West Side
Highway
F.D.R. Drive
Holland
Tunnel
Manhattan
Bridge
Brooklyn
Bridge
NEW JERSEY
Battery Park
Underpass
BROOKLYN
Hugh L. Carey
Tunnel
1 mile
Central
Park
QUEENS
60th
Street
Ed Koch
Queensboro
Bridge
Central Business
District Tolling
Program area
Queens-
Midtown
Tunnel
Lincoln
Tunnel
Roads
excluded
from toll
EAST R.
HUDSON R.
MANHATTAN
Williamsburg
Bridge
West Side
Highway
F.D.R.
Drive
Holland
Tunnel
Manhattan
Bridge
NEW
JERSEY
Brooklyn
Bridge
Battery Park
Underpass
Hugh L. Carey
Tunnel
BROOKLYN
1 mile
By Scott Reinhard
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