During a press briefing on Thursday, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) was asked about the Trump administration threatening to cut funding to New York if it keeps congestion pricing active in New York City.
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00:00This is a question for both the Governor and Jano. It has to do with congestion
00:05pricing. As you know, the Federal Transportation Secretary has said that
00:08if the cameras aren't turned off by May 21st, he's going to cut
00:14funds to transportation for New York and for the MTA. What plans are you
00:19making about the contingency if he actually follows through with his
00:23threats? Let me address this in a couple of ways and I'll let Jano wrap up. I don't
00:31know why with all the responsibilities that the Secretary of Transportation has,
00:37including preventing train plane health and helicopter crashes that's under his
00:43jurisdiction, that they're so focused on a localities decision, a city and a state
00:50that want to control their own traffic. I mean, they talk about states rights. This
00:56is our right to make decisions on how we want to manage the flow of traffic, but
01:01also execute on our priorities, which is reduce congestion in a city that is
01:06critically important to the economic health, not just of New York, but the
01:09nation. And it's working. So as more time goes on, we are able to show them more
01:15data that counters their initial perceptions that this is a place of lawlessness, that
01:21crime is out of control, that the cost is stifling development and hurting everybody.
01:28Their perception is wrong, so we're going to continue trying our very best to open
01:33their eyes to the reality that congestion pricing is working. Traffic is down, congestion is down, and
01:44revenues are up. And the cameras are staying on. I've said it month after month after
01:50month, and I'll say it till I'm blue in the face. Come sit with us, look at the data, see
01:56how impactful this has been, probably beyond anyone's wildest expectations. I was
02:00walking the streets of New York again yesterday, and another woman came up to me
02:04and she says, I thought I was gonna hate congestion pricing, but I actually like it
02:08now. I think that's the view of a lot of people, even people coming in from New
02:13Jersey, who had a lot of hair on fire moments over this, and making us spend
02:18money in court that we all won rather handily. And now they're telling me my
02:26ride is 15 minutes shorter, it's 20 minutes shorter, it's 30 minutes shorter.
02:30More people are coming in from the suburbs to go to Broadway and the restaurants
02:34because it's not such a hassle. The cab drivers and Uber drivers who are
02:38definitely afraid of this said, wait a minute, I'm actually making more money
02:42because lack of traffic means that I can get around faster and get more fares. So
02:47there, what I'm going to do, and be as patient as I can, is to continue to show
02:54the data, explain them why this is working, and why they should really focus on
02:59other priorities that I would think that the United States Secretary of
03:03Transportation ought to be worrying about. And Governor said it all. All I would
03:09add is Marcia, we're confident that as a legal matter they can't use coercive
03:14measures to resolve something that's in front of the courts. So let's let it be
03:19resolved by the courts. We're confident we're going to continue to win. As I say,
03:23we've won in every court east of the Mississippi, and let's let it be resolved
03:28that way rather than them trying to coerce something with threats about money
03:34and otherwise. They can't do that, and we're sure that the courts will back us up on that.