What to know about NY's congestion pricing plan

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May 15, 2023 View in browser   By Danielle Muoio Dunn and Janaki Chadha Beat Memo MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber speaks at a congestion pricing rally in Manhattan | Marc A. Hermann / MTA Congestion pricing is finally moving forward. The Biden administration has signed off on the state’s environmental review of the new tolling system, which will now be available for public review for 30 days before final approval. Drivers could start paying the new charge as early as April 2024. Here’s a breakdown of what’s to come: 1. First, why are we doing this? Congestion pricing is used in other major cities, like London, to cut traffic and reduce harmful emissions from vehicles. It works by charging vehicles more to enter the city center during peak times. New York has the worst gridlock of U.S. cities. It gained support in New York after the 2017 “Summer of Hell,” when the subway and rail system suffered service disruptions after years of disinvestment. In 2019, the state passed a law directing the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to set up a congestion pricing system that would generate $1 billion annually for capital work. 2. Why is this taking so long? The MTA was required to conduct a federal environmental review because the plan involves placing tolls on highways that have received federal funding. Transit officials said the Trump administration held up the process amid political infighting with New York by not providing guidance on the kind of study it had to conduct. In 2021, the Biden administration said New York could conduct an environmental assessment. After holding dozens of public hearings and working through thousands of public comments, the MTA is in the final stages of approval. 3. What does this mean for me? The fee will apply to anyone entering Manhattan south of 60th street. The congestion zone doesn’t include FDR Drive, the West Side Highway or the Battery Park underpass. The 2019 state law provides carve-outs for emergency vehicles and vehicles carrying people with disabilities. Residents in the congestion zone who earn less than $60,000 will be eligible for a tax credit. The rest will be worked out by a six-member Traffic Mobility Review Board, which will recommend a final tolling plan for the MTA to adopt. The fee could be as high as $23 for passenger vehicles. The MTA has made some new commitments to get the green light from the feds — it’s promised to reduce the overnight tolls and provide a discounted rate for low-income drivers. Welcome to POLITICO New York Real Estate and Infrastructure. Please send tips, ideas, releases and corrections to jchadha@politico.com and dmuoio@politico.com. Driving the Day Mayor Eric Adams last week suspended portions of the city's right-to-shelter policy as New York braces for a surge in migrants after the expiration of the Title 42 border policy. | Spencer Platt/Getty Images ADAMS SUSPENDS RIGHT TO SHELTER RULES — New York Daily News’ Chris Sommerfeldt: “Mayor Adams signed an executive order late Wednesday suspending portions of the city’s longstanding right-to-shelter law — a dramatic move that comes as New York braces for the local migrant crisis to worsen. “Josh Goldfein, a lawyer with the Legal Aid Society, said he was told by Department of Social Services officials that Adams issued the order to prepare for this Friday’s expiration of Title 42, a federal border policy that has allowed authorities to quickly expel many migrants who enter the U.S. from Mexico. Once that policy lifts, Adams has said the clip of migrant arrivals will likely accelerate, even as the city’s already housing more than 38,000 asylum seekers in shelters and emergency hotels.” — “NYC sends first bus of asylum-seekers to suburbs despite backlash,” POLITICO’s Joe Anuta and Joseph Spector SMALL BUSINESSES STRUGGLING WITH RENTS — New York Times’ Stefanos Chen: “...Three years after the pandemic flattened the Manhattan office market and the commercial ecosystem that depended on it, small businesses in the other boroughs are facing the biggest rent increases in the city, as storefront rents in Manhattan are falling. The burden is landing mostly on store owners in predominantly Black, Latino and Asian neighborhoods, according to a new analysis of Department of Finance data. “Now, the owners of many of those small businesses, many of whom did not qualify for pandemic-era public loans and grants, worry that sharp rent increases and a lack of protections for commercial tenants could shut down their stores, just as the economy is gaining momentum. These businesses helped fuel the city’s recovery while the rest of the economy faltered, and many store owners say they fear they will be left out of the resurgence.” COUNCIL RELEASES FAIR HOUSING PLAN — A new bill from City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams would require the city’s housing and planning agencies to establish housing production targets for each of the city’s 59 community districts — in an effort to ensure the burden of housing growth is spread more equitably across the city. “Many neighborhoods with abundant access to infrastructure and amenities like open space, thriving schools and public transit have produced far too few housing units,” Adams said Thursday at a rally at City Hall Park, joined by roughly two dozen other Council members. “The framework will help the city ensure well-resourced neighborhoods that have not equitably contributed to affordable housing production do their fair share.” Under the bill, the city would have to release a fair housing plan every five years with targets for citywide housing production, and how that housing should be distributed across community districts. It would not include any mandates. — Janaki Chadha TIP US: You can always send us tips, ideas, releases, promotions, criticisms and corrections by emailing us at jchadha@politico.com and dmuoio@politico.com. Odds and Ends BREAKING GROUND SUES FOR UNPAID RENT — Gothamist’s Chau Lam: “The city’s largest supportive housing provider that receives millions of dollars of taxpayer money to house homeless, mentally ill and low-income New Yorkers is suing tenants for unpaid rent and in some cases asking judges to evict them if they don’t pay, court records show. “In the last seven months, nonprofit provider Breaking Ground filed 82 petitions in Manhattan housing court for nonpayment of rent against tenants at its 652-unit facility in Times Square, a complex made up of studio apartments and the nation's largest permanent supportive housing residence, housing court records reviewed by Gothamist show.” NEW TAX BREAK FOR OFFICE RENOVATIONS — Crain’s C.J. Hughes: “Landlords of empty office buildings may have a fresh reason to modernize their properties and try again to fill long-vacant floors. Under an initiative announced by the city Thursday, owners of many commercial buildings in Manhattan can take advantage of tax breaks to help defray the cost of renovations. Tax breaks of this type, for buildingwide improvements to commercial real estate, haven’t been available for more than a decade.” Quick Links — Office visitation rates are stalling, per a report from the Real Estate Board of New York. — Real estate executives are trying to lure workers back to the office with food halls. — Jay-Z’s Roc Nation wrote an open letter to try to make the case for a Times Square casino.   Follow us on Twitter Janaki Chadha @janakichadha Danielle Muoio Dunn @muoiod   Follow us

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