Author: tourist_yp6g7u

NEW YORK (AP) — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul halted a plan to charge most motorists $15 to enter the core of Manhattan, upending the nation’s first “congestion pricing” system on Wednesday just weeks before it was set to launch.

The announcement dealt a stunning blow to a program, years in the making, that was intended to raise billions of dollars for New York’s beleaguered subways and commuter rails while reducing emissions and gridlock on the city’s streets.

In a pre-recorded video statement, Hochul, a Democrat, said she had arrived at the “difficult decision that implementing the planned congestion pricing system risks too many unintended consequences at this time.”

She cited New York’s fragile economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the financial burden that the toll would pose on state residents struggling with inflation, as reasons to “indefinitely pause the program.”

“A $15 charge might not seem like a lot to someone who has the means but it can break the budget of a hardworking or middle class household,” Hochul said. “It puts the squeeze on the very people who make this city go.”

The program was scheduled to begin on June 30, five years after it was first signed into law by the former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and more than a decade after it was first proposed. It had divided many in the region, pitting drivers against those who rely on the city’s public transit system.

Until Wednesday, Hochul had been one of the plan’s staunchest backers, describing the “transformative” impact it would have on the climate and the city’s transit services as recently as two weeks ago.

The abrupt reversal sent shockwaves through New York’s political circles, while raising questions among transportation advocates about how the state would pay for badly needed transit upgrades previously slated to be funded by the toll revenue.

Kate Slevin, executive vice president of the Regional Plan Association, a nonprofit advocacy group, called the move “a total betrayal of New Yorkers and our climate.”

As the plan neared its launch date, it drew increasing pushback from commuters and officials in the city’s suburbs. Hochul, who is helping to lead Democrats’ efforts to retake congressional seats in New York, has largely geared her political strategy toward addressing the concerns of suburban voters.

U.S. Rep. Pat Ryan, a Democrat who represents a Hudson Valley district north of the city, touted his role in killing the plan, noting in a statement that he’s “proud to say we’ve stopped congestion pricing in its tracks.”

Other opponents of the plan — including unions representing teachers and police officers, truckers and several officials in New Jersey and Connecticut — also celebrated the decision.

The plan called for people driving passenger vehicles into Manhattan below 60th Street — roughly the area south of Central Park — to pay at least $15, with larger vehicles paying more. These payments would come on top of already steep tolls for using bridges and tunnels to enter Manhattan.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which would have overseen the program, has largely completed the process of installing cameras, sensors, license plate readers and other equipment on city roadways in anticipation of the plan’s launch. And they have inked contracts to pay more than $500 million to private vendors for the design and operation of that technology.

Neither the MTA nor Hochul’s office responded to questions about whether any of that money would be recouped if the plan does not move forward.

“The public should be questioning why we spent hundreds of millions of dollars on equipment that’s just going to sit there and what that tells us about the governor’s priorities,” said Rachael Fauss, a policy adviser at Reinvent Albany, a good government group.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a one-time supporter of congestion pricing who has voiced his own reservations about the plan in recent months, said he backed the governor’s decision to halt the program.

“If she’s looking at what other ways we can do it and how we can do it correctly, I’m all for it,” he said. “This is a major shift for our city and it has to be done correctly.”

In her comments Wednesday, Hochul said she remains committed to funding the state’s transportation initiatives, but did not specify where the money would come from. Any additional tax would require the approval of the state legislature, which is set to end its session this week.

Delaying the plan will require the approval of the MTA’s board, which is controlled by Hochul. Some members of the board said they had not been briefed by the governor prior to the announcement and expressed confusion about how key projects, including signal upgrades and rail improvements, would now be funded.

“How are we going to replace a third of the capital budget?” asked David Jones, a board member. “Is the governor going to provide the billions that are being taken away in some other manner? This could lead to a real financial disaster.”

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This story has been edited to correct the name of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

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Associated Press reporter Anthony Izaguirre in Albany, New York, contributed to this report.

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by Alpha Diallo

It was at the Brotherhood-Sister Sol where I got to reflect on the time I was suspended. As part of the Liberation Program, I work with other New York City youth to make change in my community. As youth activists and organizers we reflect on our experiences in our neighborhoods and schools. Two summers ago, New York State Senator Robert Jackson visited our building in Harlem. We learned that he sponsored the Solutions Not Suspension Bill, which looks for other ways to handle students misbehaving in schools. It turns out that it’s mostly Black and Latinx youth being suspended for normal teenage behavior. Learning about this bill and talking about my suspension with my facilitators and other youth members helped me understand what happened.

I was 14 years old and in the 9th grade when I was suspended because of a text message. One school day I wasvibing to “United in Grief” by Kendrick Lamar during my advisory class. Suddenly, my advisor pulled me out of the classroom and walked me to the fifth floor. We walked the hallway past the stinky bathroom. I made sure my steps matched the same color tiles. My advisor led me into the principal’s office. He closed the door and said the principal was on her way. My advisor walked out of the office when the principal entered.

“Give me your phone,” said the principal.

“OK,” I said and asked, “Am I in trouble?”

“Why would you ask that question?” said the principal.

“I’ve seen enough movies to know when you get pulled into the principal’s office it’s because you’re in trouble,” I said.

The principal showed me a printout of my text messages under it. She asked, “Is that your number?” The text said, “shoot my teacher …”

She held her cell in one hand and my cell started to ring. “Your mom will be coming in.”

My assistant principal walked in with tears in her eyes talking about how hard her job is and how this joke I texted made her job so much harder.  

“I won’t do it again,” I said. 

“There will be punishment,” said the principal.

“That’s fair,” I said.

Later that day my mother, father and sister came to the school. My father was disappointed with me. I was disappointed in myself. My sister was quiet the whole time. I could tell she was trying not to laugh. Meanwhile, I stared at the peeling paint on the ceiling while my family read the joke I texted. A piece of paint fell on my head. I wiped it off.

While the adults talked about my joke, my mind floated, waiting to come back down to earth. And then I heard the word: SUSPENSION. My body dropped down to earth so fast my heart bounced in my chest. I wanted to hold it still. I heard an adult voice outside the room ask, “Is that Alpha?”

It was just a text. It was just a joke. I asked myself, which one of my friends in the group chat told on me? Is this person even my friend? Weren’t we all friends making jokes about our teacher? Why was I the only one targeted out of everyone? I imagined interrupting the adults’ conversation about my joke and asking this question aloud, but didn’t want to risk having five more people in my position.

As time passed my sister’s face looked sad like when fruits go bad. My mother talked less and less until she said nothing. 

I finally spoke up and asked, “Is suspension really the answer?”

My dad said, “Silence.”

I did as he said. I began floating back up in space as the adults talked and noticed another piece of paint from the ceiling on my pants.

In the end, it turns out the teacher I texted the joke about didn’t know the school decided to suspend me. I ended up with COVID while suspended, meaning  I would’ve missed school days anyway. Ironic, am I right? My parents were no longer mad at me because they were afraid I would die from COVID. They didn’t know enough about the virus then. While I was sick at home I thought to myself, is being sick my actual punishment? The pain in my throat was so bad I could barely breathe. There were times when I would wake up from the sound of me gasping for air. I wondered if my punishment for the text was my illness. I wasn’t sure what was the point of my suspension.

Unfortunately, the Solutions Not Suspension bill still has not passed, but it doesn’t mean that it won’t be in the future. Until the bill is passed young people will keep missing days of school without understanding why. If you agree with me that suspensions are not the answer to misbehavior please find your representative at https://www.mygovnyc.org/ and tell them our youth needs solutions not suspensions.

Alpha Diallo is a New York City High School Student and part of The Brotherhood-Sister Sol, a non-profit organization in Harlem that has served Black and Latinx youth for over 25 years. Diallo is a member of the organization’s The Liberation Program, a group of youth activists and organizers working to get the City Council to invest in mental health wellness centers in every secondary school campus.

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* This article was originally published here