Monday was the first time MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber and Gov. Kathy Hochul appeared together in public since she paused congestion pricing, except for a private bill signing to rename the Christopher Street station after the Stonewall Inn. 

What You Need To Know

  • Gov. Kathy Hochul touted her support for funding the MTA's current and next capital plans in a speech Monday morning at an MTA networking event for minority, veteran and women-owned businesses

  • Hours later, when asked how she would fund the $15 billion lost from congestion pricing and the $33 billion needed for the current plan, the governor suggested the price of the next capital plan may change

  • Hochul also said she is weighing her legal options after a judge denied her motion to dismiss two cases looking to un-pause congestion pricing

"We’re going to continue rebuilding with our next capital plan,” Hochul said. “That is a commitment. We’re making another capital plan following on the one we’re funding right now, that we will have so many jobs and opportunities.”

The governor spoke at an event to connect minority, veteran and women-owned businesses to opportunities at the MTA.

Hochul said she’s funding the current capital plan even though there's a $15 billion hole from her pause on congestion pricing.

And now, the MTA estimates it will need an additional $33 billion for the next five-year plan that starts next year.

But just hours later, the governor didn’t seem as committed to that number.

“So, there is still a process to know what the final numbers are,” Hochul said. “So, it does not make sense for me to comment on specifics related to that. As I said before, congestion pricing was a temporary pause.”

However, a court could unpause it.

On Monday, Judge Arthur Engoron issued his written decision from Friday, denying the governor’s motion to dismiss two lawsuits seeking to start the program.

Both argue she doesn’t have the power to order her state Department of Transportation commissioner not to sign the agreement with the federal government to turn the tolls on.

“There remains a more than plausible argument at this stage that NYSDOT’s execution of the Tolling Agreement is ministerial,” Judge Engoron wrote, meaning signing it was required by the law that established congestion pricing. 

“I’m assessing my legal options as we speak,” the governor said in response.

And while Lieber reiterated the MTA was ready to implement congestion pricing, he had more to say about a lawsuit suit just filed that seeks to force the MTA to re-prioritize 23 station accessibility projects put on hold by the pause.

“We haven't ditched any accessibility projects. To the contrary, we have what? 37 that are being constructed right now,” Lieber said. “We just said that until the congestion pricing issue is resolved, and the governor said she's going to resolve it and fund that piece of our program, we need to focus on the projects that made sure that the system didn't fall apart.”

Lieber says he thinks the governor showing up to MTA event Monday and mentioning the capital programs shows she is committed to funding the MTA one way or another.