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NYC transit advocates rally against congestion pricing pause, call for accessibility upgrades
By
Catalina Gonella
Published Sep 8, 2024
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Courtesy Danny Pearlstein/Riders Alliance
By
Catalina Gonella
Published Sep 8, 2024
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Transit advocates, still incensed by Gov. Kathy Hochul’s pause on congestion pricing, rallied on Sunday for a "day of action." They aimed to highlight the urgent need for accessibility projects that the program was intended to fund.
The group Riders Alliance teamed up with organizations such as the Center for Independence of the Disabled, New York and Elevator Action Group to canvas straphangers at 23 stations affected by the pause in congestion pricing, which cut funding that would have gone into essential upgrades such as elevators.
“The disabled community has waited for decades to receive elevator access to these 23 subway stations,” said Sharon McLennon, executive director of CIDNY, in a statement. “We were promised that congestion pricing would assist with paying for some of the cost for these elevators. Now, congestion funding is paused, and we continue to wait for access. When will the waiting end?”
Congestion pricing and the associated bond financing would have funded $15 billion in upgrades to subway stations, commuter railroads and buses. It would have also helped pay for the Second Avenue subway extension into East Harlem.
Hochul’s decision to pause the program just days before it was supposed to go into effect pulled funding for a laundry list of construction projects throughout the MTA system.
Riders Alliance spokesperson Danny Pearlstein said canvassers talked to riders about the direct impact the pause of congestion pricing will have on the stations they rely on.
“There are so many misconceptions about congestion pricing and the governor's pause that we wanted to make sure that New Yorkers all across the city understand the impacts — in particular that 23 stations that were supposed to become accessible now won't be,” he said. “We don't have the platform that she has, but we have the ability to interact person to person and spread the word.”
John Lindsey, a spokesperson for Hochul, said the governor still intends to find funds for those plans.
“Governor Hochul has stated repeatedly that she is committed to funding the MTA Capital Plan and is working with partners in government on funding mechanisms while congestion pricing is paused,” he said in an email.
However, advocates argued that they cannot wait any longer for the elevators and other amenities that congestion pricing would have funded.
“Without the toll revenue from congestion pricing, $2 billion intended for accessibility upgrades has been removed from the current capital plan, creating uncertainty for future funding,” said Jessica Murray, organizer for Rise and Resist Elevator Action Group.
Nicole Murray with the Democratic Socialists of America was stationed at the 168th A, C and 1 station, and said most of the people she spoke to didn’t know that their station was going to get an elevator, or that the project was now deferred.
“Anytime I saw somebody with a stroller, or carrying a luggage or suitcase, or in walkers or wheelchairs, or carrying a bike up the stairs, I tried to catch them because the 1 train is the one that doesn't have an elevator going all the way down. Almost everybody was pretty incensed,” Murray said.
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transportation
Catalina Gonella
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