Governor Hochul is considering a reduced congestion toll that would exempt union members, reports Carl Campanile of the Post – after the elections in November.
OK, Hochul never said she would do more than “suspend” tolls, but she did raise concerns about the city’s economy – not for the political calendar.
But this is clearly all Policy.
First, a lower toll than the originally planned $15 to enter Manhattan south of 60th Street is no guarantee that prices will not rise quickly.
This is how it works in Albany: The legislature is always looking for new revenue, never try to reduce taxes or fees.
And her new plan Despite it As a result, the MTA lacks the capital it had expected in the original plan.
Moreover, by exempting public sector workers, the whole “congestion relief” justification for the toll becomes ridiculous: now the “pricing” simply places an additional burden on the private sector.
On the contrary, it is another step towards making New York a two-class city: even people in the private sector hardly benefit from the usual public sector perks such as a guaranteed pension or health insurance after retirement.
And all this without succeeding in limiting the “public employee privilege” that contributes to the MTA’s financial problems: with a payroll of $7.8 billion, for example, the taxi company spent a record $1.37 billion on overtime last year.
Albany also will not consider allocating additional money to the agency from the state’s bloated annual budget, which is rising to $240 billion and rising.
It is widely believed that House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (Brooklyn) was the deciding vote that got Hochul to suspend the toll in the first place: Angering suburbanites so close to the November election would give Republicans a boost in districts he wants to win back this year, allowing him to majority Leader.
Jeffries probably also assumes that the tolls will be collected Do If Democrats intervene, anger will be focused on Hochul, and voters will absolve other Democrats of responsibility by 2026.
The best response voters can make to the contemptuous calculations of their politicians is to vote for as many Republicans as possible in November.
