Democratic New York Governor Kathy Hochul has shocked constituents this month with a surprise decision to cancel New York City’s congestion program plan just weeks before it was set to start. Hochul had previously supported the plan, which would have charged drivers $15 to enter parts of Manhattan in order to fund the city’s public transportation budget. New York City’s public transportation system, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), is used daily by millions of city residents but has long been plagued by underfunding for necessary expansions and repairs. Congestion pricing has been championed by a wide coalition that includes disability rights advocates, low-income residents and climate activists. The program was expected to dramatically reduce air pollution and fossil fuel emissions in the third-highest emitting city in the world. We hear from two New Yorkers: David Jones, an MTA board member and the president and CEO of the Community Service Society of New York, and Keanu Arpels-Josiah, a young climate activist with Fridays for Future NYC who has just graduated high school. “We’re at a dire point in the climate crisis,” and Governor Hochul is “failing on this issue,” says Arpels-Josiah.
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.