LOL Democrats: Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory

[pvn]

Hard pass

[goofy]

Whether it’s the mayor or governor, New York stands alone in giving power to clowns in blue

Nicholas Wallace (@wallace.bsky.social)

Hochul Pushes for Congestion Pricing Delay in Last-Minute Reversal

To fill the $1 billion yearly gap, Ms. Hochul is considering proposing a tax on New York City businesses. Such a tax would require the approval of the Legislature, which is far from assured, especially with just two days left in the legislative session.

[pvn]

@goofy

postpone a plan to charge motorists to enter Manhattan’s business district, citing fears that it will hurt the city’s economy

is there any evidence for this at all?

[TheDuker]

Do Donald Trump’s Truths count as evidence?

[goofy]

She blocked it. What a fucking moron. Also idk what living around NYC is like but I kinda doubt this:

Hochul Halts Congestion Pricing in a Stunning 11th-Hour Shift

“Let’s be real: A $15 charge may not seem like a lot to someone who has the means but it can break the budget of a hard-working middle class household,” Ms. Hochul said.

How many of these “hard-working middle-class households” are driving into Manhattan at peak hours instead of taking public transit? If it’s anything like SF I assume parking in Manhattan is also astronomically expensive, so whose bank is being broken by this that isn’t already paying at least $50 a day in parking fees to shitty companies that build parking lots?

[Krayz]

Absolute piece of shit

[McTrollson]

Has a techbro hit on the idea of slave quarters? Feel like you could raise a billion or two off that idea if you add some buzzwords about AI.

[goofy]

More on Kathy Hochul being the absolute dumbest person alive:

“We Got So Close. There Are Signs Up.”

The best chance for sustainably funding an expansion and modernization of the Big Apple’s subways since Nelson Rockefeller’s ill-fated 1970s Program for Action was off, or “indefinitely paused,” less than a month before it was supposed to begin. “We got so close. There are signs up,” said one agency veteran. “This is the worst possible way this could have gone down.” Wednesday, this person said, became a day of trying to comfort younger staff who hadn’t before experienced a governor yanking the rug out from under the MTA over politics or personalities.

“It’s a shitty fucking day,” said another insider. “It’s crazy, it’s political amateurism, it’s one of the most astonishing things I’ve ever seen.” Another described it as waking up to “shit for breakfast.”

As of late Wednesday, the governor’s office had still not briefed the MTA board about the cancellation, two members said. That’s a thing that should happen — and soon. Hochul’s decision blows a $15 billion hole in the agency’s budget, aside from another $2.5 billion, tallied by the budget watchdogs at Reinvent Albany, that Hochul and state lawmakers have promised but been sluggish about delivering.

Source after source repeatedly circled back to the same point: There is no backup plan because this was completely unexpected. The governor has floated hiking the city’s payroll tax as a way to fill the gap, a proposal that received a chilly early reception. The legislative session is set to end today, though parliamentary maneuvering could extend it. “This was dropped on our heads yesterday,” said one lawmaker. “This is bonkers policymaking. Now we’re flying by the seat of our pants overnight.”
…
Barring a statehouse funding miracle, sources could only guess what this means for MTA projects on the drawing board. The operative assumption is that most will end up being cut. “Is she canceling the Second Avenue Subway?” asked one MTA board member.

No one knows fate of pricey cameras after congestion pricing put on ice in NYC

non-paywall link

[eyebooger]

Unless they prove otherwise (e.g. Bowman, Ocasio-Cortez), I just assume that every Democrat from New York State is corrupt and/or dumber than shit.

[Jman220]

Isn’t Bowman the one who pulled the fire alarm and then claimed it was a mistake? Boy I’m not sure I’m aboard the “he’s proved he’s not dumber than shit” bandwagon.

[goofy]

Marisa Kabas (@marisakabas.bsky.social)

Congestion Pricing Study Finds Law Enforcement Officers Are Manhattan's Most...

[Krayz]

Not surprised Jeffries is a shitlib too. Seems like he called Hochul up in the 11th hour and told her to can it because he’s a shitlib who think it’s easier for shitlibs to get reelected

[riverman]

It costs $60 a day to park in that congestion zone. LOL DEMOCRATS

https://x.com/bri_guy_ny/status/1799111675398000708?s=46&t=XGja5BtSraUljl_WWUrIUg

[goofy]

Hochul's Congestion Pricing Pause Is Stuck in Traffic - Hell Gate

“Congestion pricing is required under a 2019 state law. Governors must follow the law,” the group wrote in an FAQ about the current power struggle. “The Legislature would need to vote to change the law or the timelines established by it, otherwise the MTA is required to implement it.”

Reinvent Albany says that if anyone can cancel congestion pricing, it’s the MTA board. Even then, they’d still need some sort of assurance that the MTA has its $15 billion, otherwise the board members would be violating their fiduciary duty to cancel the tolls. “We do not see how it is possible for the MTA board to fulfill its fiduciary duty by defunding the MTA,” they conclude.
…
“We’re debasing ourselves as a legislative body to provide cover to a clueless governor,” one source in the Assembly told Hell Gate. “Congestion pricing is a law and you can’t just ignore it because a poll made you nervous. What are we even doing here?”

[LFS]

@goofy

What are we even doing here?

[riverman]

https://x.com/alexaronson/status/1799054747896619379?s=46&t=XGja5BtSraUljl_WWUrIUg

[goofy]

More congestion pricing:

Plain, Simple Common Sense

The issue that moved Ravitch so much that he felt compelled to do this was a $7 million political gambit by state politicians to curry favor with suburban swing voters prior to a pivotal election. They enacted a toll rebate program on the Verrazano Bridge for Staten Islanders. The MTA board had to approve it.

I urge you to listen to his testimony here. It is vintage Ravitch. He was there to remind the MTA board members about a 2010 law called the Public Authorities Reform Act which defined the obligations of the MTA board to be responsible fiduciaries of the agency. Their sole obligation was to the mission of the authority and the authority itself.

“As I understand it,” Ravitch said,

“lowering these tolls will result in reduced revenue and consequently reduce capacity to incur debt for capital purposes in your next five year plan, for which, as I understand from the press, you do not yet have the resources to come close to meeting what the demands of this authority and the demands of the public transportation system in this region are going to require.”

In other words, the board was about to vote to give up money that would make it harder to pay for necessary things it already was struggling to afford, just to appease some politicians.
…
Sitting in Ravitch’s office in 2018, I asked him what happened next. The toll rebate program passed with unanimous approval. And Democrats lost the Congressional district on both sides of the Verrazano Bridge by 13 points. It turned out that saving 50 cents per crossing didn’t sway many voters.

And what about the board, I asked? Ravitch laughed. “Nobody gave a crap. Nobody ,” he repeated for emphasis, “gave a shit .”

I don’t know what the future of congestion pricing looks like, but I do know this is no L shutdown and Hochul is no Cuomo. The whole reason Cuomo passed congestion pricing—and make no mistake, Cuomo got it done—was to fund the capital program. He would never have killed it with no alternative. Not because he gave a crap about subway riders, but because he would need a plausible alternative so it didn’t look like he was punching the MTA in the gut, pulling its underwear over its head, and taking its lunch money. Hochul’s pathetic political mistakes are what opens the very real possibility that this isn’t over. As unpopular and problematic as congestion pricing was, reversing it with no notice and no plan is even less popular. Her obvious weaknesses as a politician and a leader make it possible for important people to stand up to her. The mere fact there’s a live debate about whether Hochul can do this goes a long way towards answering the question.

Opinion | New Yorkers are faced with a terrifying question after Gov....

The plan to administer an additional $15 toll for vehicles entering certain parts of Manhattan during peak driving hours would’ve generated revenue to allow the MTA to make sorely needed updates across its systems, while reducing traffic and reducing the environmental destruction wrought by cars.

The uproar was immediate. “I’ve gotten more telephone calls, emails, texts & voicemails in support of congestion pricing than any other other issue — ever — during my decade in the NYS Senate (that even includes hatred from anti-vaxxers),” state Sen. Brad Hoylman, a Democrat, tweeted Friday morning.

“Congestion pricing isn’t just about funding the MTA,” Doug Gordon, a Brooklyn-based bike advocate and expert and co-host of “The War on Cars” podcast, told me Friday. “It’s also about reducing congestion. The goal is right there in the name. Even if state Democrats could miraculously come up with an alternate funding source to the tune of $1 billion per year, without some sort of toll on drivers who enter Manhattan, the city will remain clogged with traffic, screwing over bus riders, pedestrians, cyclists and even drivers. No one benefits from gridlocked streets.”

“No matter how you slice it,” Gordon said, “this is the most disastrous decision by any state-level Democrat I can recall.”

[LouisCyphre]

@goofy

a $7 million political gambit by state politicians to curry favor with suburban swing voters prior to a pivotal election. They enacted a toll rebate program on the Verrazano Bridge for Staten Islanders.
(…)
Democrats lost the Congressional district on both sides of the Verrazano Bridge by 13 points.

Classic Democrats.

[DrChesspain]

Staten Island and Bay Ridge (Brooklyn) are loaded with MAGA Catholics. The bridge toll has little to do with their hatred and cowardice.

[LouisCyphre]

That’s why that was a stupid idea