Hochul Halts Congestion Pricing in a Stunning 11th-Hour Shift

Weeks before New York was to charge motorists to enter Manhattan’s business district, Gov. Kathy Hochul postponed the program citing economic concerns.

Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York announced on Wednesday that she was shelving the long-awaited tolling plan known as congestion pricing, just weeks before it was to go into effect.

“After careful consideration I have come to the difficult decision that implementing the planned congestion pricing system risks too many unintended consequences,” Ms. Hochul said, adding: “I have directed the M.T.A. to indefinitely pause the program.”

The decision, Ms. Hochul said, was not an easy one, but nonetheless crucial in light of the lingering effects of the coronavirus pandemic on working families and New York City’s economy.

The congestion pricing plan, the first of its kind in the nation and a program that has been decades in the making, was slated to start June 30. Drivers using E-ZPass would have paid as much as $15 to enter Manhattan south of 60th Street.

The governor said she feared that instituting a toll to drive into the borough would “create another obstacle to our economic recovery.”

“Let’s be real: A $15 charge may not seem like a lot to someone who has the means but it can break the budget of a hard-working middle-class household,” Ms. Hochul said.