Exclusive | Before pushing NYC congestion pricing, Gov. Hochul was an anti-toll pioneer

Long before she became a champion for congestion pricing, Gov.Hochul spent a decade opposing tolls in upstate New York — and was even hailed as a “stop-the-tolls pioneer.”From her perch on the upstate Hamburg town board to her time in Congress, Hochul fought to get NYS Thruway toll booths torn down and railed against toll hikes, arguing that they placed “a heavy burden on the communities and businesses” — a stark contrast from her vehement defense of the controversial $9 fee in NYC.In 1998, town board member Hochul described the tolls in a Buffalo News op-ed as a “noose” that was “strangling” the city and having a “chilling effect” on business.“The citizens of Buffalo and its first- and second-ring suburbs should not be penalized every time they leave their boundaries by paying tolls to drive to work, go to the mall, visit downtown attractions or take the kids to play hockey,” Hochul wrote.In an ironic foreshadowing how critics now describe her own congestion-pricing cash grab for the MTA, Hochul argued, “It’s time for the state Thruway Authority, a non-elected entity, which spends over $40 million just to collect tolls, to stop nickel-and-diming us to death.” The 35-cent Thruway tolls, which were initially charged to pay off bonds and were expected to expire in 1996, were a “nail in the coffin” for business people, she said.The same idiom has been employed by taxi industry leaders and restaurant owners in describing NYC congestion pricing, which opponents say is a tax on the working class and bad for business.In 2003, as deputy county clerk, Hochul convinced her boss, then-County Clerk David Swarts, to join her in lobbying against tolls.

When the Thruway Authority jacked tolls up to 75 cents two years later, she participated in a “Penny Protest,” where drivers handed over the fee one cent at a time, according to the Niagara Falls Reporter.By 2007, some of the tolls had been successfully removed and Hochul, newly elected as...