Blakeman vows to end congestion pricing as the MTA fights in court. Where Council members stand on the record

With a week left in the governor's race, the future of congestion pricing is back in the news on two fronts.

On Tuesday, Republican nominee Bruce Blakeman stood near Central Park and pledged to end the $9 toll for driving into Manhattan below 60th Street. He called it "nothing more than a tax on the middle class," City & State reported. When pressed, he named three ways he might do it: get the Legislature to repeal the law, issue an executive order, or tell the MTA to stop enforcing the toll. City & State noted that each one has problems. Democrats control the Legislature. A governor can't repeal a state law by executive order outside an emergency. And stopping enforcement could put at risk the bonds backed by toll revenue, which fund $15 billion in MTA capital projects. A spokesperson for Gov. Kathy Hochul's campaign said Blakeman was "taking Trump's side."

Meanwhile, in federal court, MTA lawyers told the judge in a long-running suit against the toll that U.S. Justice Department attorneys had failed to disclose case law favorable to the MTA, Streetsblog reported. The case is Town of Hempstead v. Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, filed in 2024 in the Eastern District of New York. The MTA did not ask for sanctions.

Why it matters to residents: the toll affects anyone who drives into Midtown or Lower Manhattan, and its revenue pays for subway signals, elevators and other MTA work. A new Siena poll released Wednesday shows Hochul leading Blakeman 54% to 40% statewide and 67% to 23% in New York City, amNY reported.

What our records add

The City Council has no vote on congestion pricing. The toll was created by state law and is run by the MTA. But Council members have taken positions on it in the public record.

A study request has waited nine months. Res. 54, from Council Member Selvena N. Brooks-Powers, asks the MTA to run long-term studies of the toll's environmental, economic and social effects across the city. It was introduced Jan. 29 and has four sponsors: Brooks-Powers, Amanda C. Farías, Farah N. Louis and Lynn C. Schulman. It has not had a hearing in the Transportation Committee.

A veterans exemption is pending. Res. 481, from Frank Morano, asks the MTA to exempt veterans from the toll. It has eight sponsors, including Joann Ariola, Vickie Paladino, Inna Vernikov, Phil Wong and Yusef Salaam. Morano introduced it as part of a Memorial Day package, telling the Council at the May 20 stated meeting that these were "not radical ideas." It has been in the Veterans Committee since then without a hearing.

One member voted against a nominee over the toll. At the March 26 Rules Committee meeting, Council Member David M. Carr voted no on Midori Valdivia, the mayor's appointee to the Taxi and Limousine Commission. He cited her vote, as a former MTA board member, to approve congestion pricing, which he said "imposed significant costs" on his Staten Island constituents. The committee approved her 6–1, and the full Council approved the appointment the same day.

What's next

Election Day is Nov. 3. By City & State's analysis, any governor who wanted to end the toll would need the Legislature to change the law. The federal case remains before Judge Joan M. Azrack, and no ruling date has been set. Res. 54 and Res. 481 stay in committee until their chairs schedule hearings.