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The stars appear to be lining up for congestion pricing in New York City, and that could have a major effect on the city’s controversial Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE) reconstruction plans.
In a release on Sunday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Director of the Budget Robert Mujica made clear the governor’s support for congestion pricing, linking it to the crumbling subway system.
“If congestion pricing does not pass this legislative session, the system’s decay over the past decades will continue. The legislature should act responsibly and pass it,” Mujica said. In the interim, he added, “Governor Cuomo will work very hard to pass congestion pricing and a reorganization plan for the MTA.”
A state panel backed congestion pricing, for the most part, in December as a way to fund subway repairs. The plan is estimated to bring in a billion dollars annually.