New York Democrats Are Sabotaging Their Biggest Policy Success

You’d think Democrats would jump at the chance to fight back. Here’s a policy that improves daily life for millions of New Yorkers, forces red-district suburbanites to help fund public goods in blue cities, and delivers real climate benefits. And Trump wants to take it away—instantly making the city louder, more dangerous, and pushing our transit system into crisis. It’s practically a campaign ad written for you.

Instead, with few exceptions—including Governor Kathy Hochul—Democrats have done what they too often do: duck the fight. For the most part, to the extent congestion pricing has been defended at all, it’s been treated as a technocratic, financial, or legal prerogative, instead of the clear political victory it is—one that deserves a full-throated defense.

And to make matters worse, some local Democrats have gone so far as to actively join the opposition. Christopher Marte, the City Council member representing Lower Manhattan—a place where car ownership is vanishingly rare, transit access is unparalleled, and congestion pricing’s benefits are most vividly felt—has even led protests opposing the policy altogether.