Local is right about congestion pricing.
It's not about politics as in Republican versus Democrats.
There was lots of proof of that for this past
year.
New Jersey Governor Murphy, a very loyal Democrat, was against
this.
As we're most Democratic elected officials in New Jersey and
outside of New York City itself, congestion pricing would be
in place for two weeks before Donald Trump takes office.
And so a President Trump might move quickly to try
to deep 6 any federal funding.
And while we just heard the governor say the timing
is not related to that, the president-elect did take a
different stance today, one without much proof.
He said, quote, it will be virtually impossible for New
York City to come back as long as the congestion
tax is in effect.
And quote, Eyewitness News reporter Stacey Sagar continues our coverage
digging deep with more reaction from Carl Place in Nassau
County, Long Island.
Stacey.
Well, Bill, will the governor's plan be dead on arrival,
especially with Donald Trump coming in?
You know, out here in suburbia, there's no shortage of
opponents for congestion pricing.
And already they're fighting it on several fronts.
For those who spend most of their week commuting to
New York City in their cars, congestion pricing just adds
insult to injury.
In this letter to Donald Trump, Don Clavin, the supervisor
of America's largest Township, calling congestion pricing an unconstitutional tax
grab.
So does the Nassau County executive.
It's a tax, tax, tax.
And so from the local level on up, politicians outside
Manhattan are already fighting it.
I was on the phone this morning with our attorneys
to see if there's any temporary injunction.
We could see relief in federal court to stop this
from the courts to the committees in U.S.
Congress where outgoing Congressman Anthony Diazposito vows to use his
last legislative breath.
I'm going to utilize my position on the Transportation Infrastructure
Committee to make sure that no federal funds are used
to implement congestion pricing.
And from Staten Island, Congresswoman Malliotakis vowing to stymie it
in the Department of Transportation, the MTA.
He did not conduct a full and thorough environmental impact
statement as required by federal law.
It also wouldn't be shocking to see President Trump turn
to his soon to be director of the Environmental Protection
Agency, Lee Zeldin, for policy change.
Lee Zeldin, another suburban former congressman, could not possibly find
a way to want to support congestion pricing, leaving many
political experts wondering, has Governor Hochul taken too great a
political risk with suburban voters?
She says quite the opposite.
People live in Suffolk County, Nassau County, Orange County, Westchester.
I have a responsibility to them to make sure that
this system is working with a plan that could run
out of gas before it even starts and face political
pitfalls down the road.
This can't help her with the suburbs, where even if
it's the greatest policy since sliced bread, it's not very
popular.
And that's putting it mildly.
Already 9 lawsuits challenging the governor's plan today, she says
she's not at all surprised by any of that.
She added that she doesn't always choose the easiest path,
but she believes this is the right one.