A perennial foe of New York's congestion pricing plan to charge $9 to enter lower Manhattan said he is making good on his past threats to knee cap it before its Jan. 5 start date.
Speaking in Fort Lee near the George Washington Bridge with off-duty Port Authority police officers behind him, U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-5th Dist., and a candidate for the Democratic nomination for governor, detailed his "Jersey style" fight on Tuesday, starting with a demand for a federal public comment period on the new congestion pricing plan that would delay its start by 60 days.
Gottheimer also said ask he'd ask House leadership to bring a host of bills he has sponsored and co-sponsored with other lawmakers, including some from New York, to block congestion pricing.
The MTA board voted Monday to approve plans to charge a $9 fee to enter Manhattan's central business district south of 60th Street. The plan with a higher $15 base price had been in limbo since a June 5 hold placed by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. She lifted that pause on Nov. 14, proposing the lower $9 toll for non-commercial passenger vehicles.
Under the new plan, the fee would gradually rise, until it reaches the $15 mark in 2031.
Congestion pricing is designed to reduce traffic, crashes and air pollution and raise $1 billion annually for subway, bus and commuter rail projects by charging a fee to enter Manhattan's central business district south of 60th Street.
A projected 80,000 to 110,000 commuters are forecasted to switch from driving to transit to avoid the fee, MTA officials said.
Congestion pricing's new rates must go to the Federal Highway Administration for final approval before they can start on Jan. 5.
Gottheimer said he will ask the USDOT and FHWA to require the MTA to hold a 60-day public comment period on the new $9 rate to be held before the FHWA signs off on congestion pricing.
The reason is New York made, "significant material changes" to the congestion pricing plans that would change traffic patterns and under federal rules "should trigger" a new comment period, he said.
On Monday, MTA CEO Janno Lieber said "procedurally we have to update our application" to the federal administration to "reflect new phase-in of the $15 rate by 2031 and if necessary update the final toll agreement."
That could happen in the next couple of weeks.
Public hearings were first held on congestion pricing between Sept.23, 2021 and April 2022, including two in New Jersey. Another round was held on the Environmental Assessment in Sept.2022, the document that lead to the June 2023 Federal Highway approval of that document; and from Dec. 27, 2023 to March 11, 2024 about the proposed $15 toll rate.
"It's the same plan, phased in, over time," MTA officials said.
Gottheimer reiterated his objections that a congestion fee will be a financial burden on working people who must drive to Manhattan to work and can't readily use public transportation, such as the Port Authority police officers who stood behind him at the press event.
"It will cost commuters $2,300 more a year with E-ZPass, $3,500 for those without E-ZPass,"he said.
The representative's second initiative will ask congressional leaders to bring legislation to the floor for a vote to stop congestion pricing or penalize the MTA.
"I'm sending a letter today to congressional leaders urging them to bring bipartisan legislation related to the congestion tax to the floor for a vote before the end of the calendar year," he said.
Those bills include the bipartisan anti-congestion tax act that prevents the U.S. Department of Transportation from awarding any new federal grants to MTA projects in New York "until all drivers from New York and New Jersey crossing into Manhattan receive exemptions from any congestion tax," Gottheimer said.
A second bill, the bipartisan Stop NJ Congestion act, which was co-sponsored with the late U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr,, D-9th Dist., would prevent the Congestion Tax from being implemented unless New York receives the consent of each affected state.
Two other bills were co-sponsored with Staten Island's U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-11th Dist., that would bar congestion pricing in New York City. The Economic Impact of Tolling Act would prohibit the USDOT from enacting the Congestion Tax until an economic impact analysis is conducted and made public.
"There is no reason we can't bring one or all these bills to (the) floor, they are bipartisan," he said.
MTA officials declined to comment on pending legislation.