Friend,
Post-COVID, New York remains a fragile place.
Remote working has kept office occupancy in Manhattan low. Crime and homelessness remain a problem, and the costs of the migrant crisis are stretching the city’s finances to the limit. The federal government is nowhere to be found and what help the state is providing is not enough.
We’re at a tipping point and I worry that adding congestion pricing to the mix right now may cause it all to teeter over.
Now, I support congestion pricing and fought to pass it into law five years ago. However, its implementation was delayed by years of Washington bureaucracy and now New York finds itself in a much different place than in 2019.
Remember, this policy was to incentivize people using public transportation. But now ridership remains at 29 percent of pre-Pandemic levels and convincing people it's a safe alternative on one hand is tough when subway crime dominates the headlines and armed National Guard soldiers have been deployed to stations as a deterrent.
Throwing a $15 car fee into the equation now may result in people choosing to stay home - or leave New York all together and work remotely. The city is where a majority of this state’s revenue is generated and if our leaders aren’t careful, their actions could kill the golden goose.
I write more about this in an Op-Ed recently published in the New York Post. You can read it here.
I also sat down to discuss this issue with Marcia Kramer at CBS 2. You can watch that here.
As always, thank you for your support and your friendship.
Governor Andrew Cuomo
