If only she’d be this hard on fare beaters.
Tough-talker Gov. Kathy Hochul dissed the Garden State Thursday over its war against her hated congestion pricing toll, sniping: “What do we care what New Jersey thinks?”
The governor admitted to insulting 9.5 million of her neighbors when she was trying to convince President Trump last week to reverse his decision to scrap federal approval for the scheme to hit drivers with a $9 fee to enter Manhattan below 60th Street.
Hochul said her main gripe with the Trump administration’s move was US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy using New Jersey, at least in part, to justify abruptly nixing the toll. Duffy lives in New Jersey with his family.
“First of all, the most offensive thing I found in the letter from Sean Duffy was citing New Jersey, saying they don’t like this program,” Hochul said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” as she recalled details of her private meeting with Trump.
“I said, ‘Mr President, we’re both New Yorkers. What do we care what New Jersey thinks?’”
The governor, who said she tried to lean on Trump’s Big Apple roots to try and sway him, appeared to backtrack when host Willie Geist quipped, “Easy, come on, I’m from Jersey.”
“It’s a lovely place,” Hochul said. “But you know what? Your ride in if you are taking the tunnels – it’s 48% faster. So, I want New Jersey residents to come here. Come, you’re part of an important part of our economy.”
“And if you’re still driving — and although 90% of you take public transit, which is why I need to keep this money coming to investment — the vast majority of you are taking public transit, but if you’re driving, I just gave you the gift of time,” she continued.
“Yes, I’m sorry there’s a cost to it, but that’s what the concept of congestion pricing is all about.”
The number of New Jersey residents commuting to the Big Apple has surged over the years — with data showing roughly 447,000 traveling from the northern part of the state in 2022 alone.
Meanwhile, Garden State residents who work in the city are also hit with both New York and New Jersey taxes.
New Jersey fought tooth and nail to thwart the first-in-the-nation congestion pricing fee from being implemented, including slapping the Empire State with a federal lawsuit that argued its residents would be forced to shoulder the environmental and financial costs.
Hochul’s jab came after the Trump administration gave New York a March 21 deadline to “cease the collection of tolls” after Duffy announced last week he was scrapping approval for the scheme.
A defiant Hochul has repeatedly insisted she will resist the demand — unless hit with a court order.
“We have to fight to keep it going, and that’s why I’m taking it to the courts and I’ll take it wherever I can,” Hochul said.
“They’re telling us we have to have an orderly cessation by the end of March. I’m saying we’re going to have to have an orderly resistance,” she added.
“We are not turning off the cameras.”
