Exclusive | Michael Goodwin: Trump reveals how White House meeting with Hochul went after prezs admin axes NYC congestion pricing
She came, they talked, he didn’t budge.That’s how President Trump described his Friday meeting at the White House with Gov.Hochul that centered on congestion pricing.“It was a very cordial meeting and she brought me a brochure with data about the effect of the new tax,” Trump told me Saturday.
“It’s something she thinks is good.”By no means was he persuaded to back off his plan to kill the program by withdrawing the federal approval granted by the Biden administration.“I don’t see how I can back off,” Trump said.“The tax is devastating.”“Of course traffic is down, nobody wants to go there and pay the price.
Working people don’t make enough to add that kind of charge.”He cited the example of a repairman driving into Manhattan from an outer borough.“If a guy comes to fix your television, you think he can just add a traffic surcharge and people will pay it?”Trump, showing he was well prepared for the meeting, said he raised the fact that the MTA loses much more money to fare and toll beaters than the $1 billion a year the congestion tax is supposed to raise.The agency says it has lost more than $5 billion to toll evasion on its bridges and tunnels in the last four years.In addition, it lost $800 million in fares last year alone when subway and bus riders refused to pay.“Those numbers are astronomical,” Trump said he told Hochul.
“If you let the police do their job, they can stop that.“You feel like a sucker if you pay the fare,” he added.“This is so bad for New York.
It’s so bad what they’re doing.”Why doesn’t Hochul understand that?The obvious answer is that she is a member of the big spenders club and the resistance against Trump.Since the election, Democrats have been searching for a leader to rally around and causes to unite their dispirited troops.Some of the auditions have been cringe-worthy.Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer led a rag-tag group chant of “We will win.”Russia hoaxer and serial liar...