More than $100 million in projects to combat air pollution in some of New York City’s poorest neighborhoods is in jeopardy now that Gov. Kathy Hochul has ordered the MTA to “indefinitely pause” congestion pricing.
The MTA was required to invest the money due to a review of the program by the federal government, which found tolling drivers south of 60th Street in Manhattan could lead to more trucks rolling through areas like the South Bronx. And revenue from congestion pricing was supposed to pay for projects designed to mitigate that extra pollution from vehicles circumventing the tolls.
“The money has disappeared, but what will not disappear are the air pollution rates, the asthma rates, the greenhouse gas emissions,” U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres from the Bronx said on Monday. “All of those are going to continue to torment and torture the lives of Bronx residents.”
The paused mitigation plans include $20 million for a new asthma program and treatment center in the Bronx. A 2023 study found children in the borough “have significantly higher rates of asthma morbidity than children in other U.S. cities.”
The tolls also would have funded a medley of programs in parts of New York City and New Jersey, including $10 million for new air filtration systems at schools located near highways; $25 million to renovate parks and green spaces in environmental justice communities; and $10 million to plant 4,000 trees and 40,000 shrubs near polluted roadways.
Congestion pricing was also supposed to provide $10 million for electric charging infrastructure for trucks. Another $15 million was to replace refrigerated trucks at the Hunts Point Produce Market in the Bronx, which handles some 15,000 diesel trucks every day.
“The replacement of these diesel operated trucks and the installation of electric charging infrastructure is a huge loss for the South Bronx,” said Kevin Garcia, senior transportation planner with the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance.
Garcia added truck traffic is a growing problem in the Bronx because e-commerce companies like Amazon have opened more warehouses in the borough in recent years. But the diesel trucks that need to keep running to keep fresh fruits and vegetables cool do the most harm to air quality.
Hochul spokesperson Anthony Hogrebe wrote in a statement that the Bronx projects were necessary to “offset higher emissions in the community” caused by increases in trucks avoiding the congestion pricing tolls in Manhattan.
“Now that Governor Hochul has instituted a pause on congestion pricing, these increased emissions are not anticipated at this time,” Hogrebe wrote.
He also said the governor is working to improve air quality in the Bronx through the state’s ongoing $1.7 billion Hunts Point Access Improvement Project, which includes work to redesign highways as part of an effort to divert trucks off local streets.
Congressmember Ritchie Torres
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The vast majority of the money from congestion pricing was intended to finance $15 billion worth of upgrades to the MTA’s mass transit infrastructure. Hochul’s pause of the program requires the MTA to scale back its construction plans, which has sparked fierce pushback from transit advocates.
But Torres said that because the governor’s move is also “a profound betrayal of the Bronx” because it defunds air quality projects in the borough..
“The governor’s pause on those community benefits is the latest in the history of broken promises against the Bronx,” he added.
Census data shows Torres represents the poorest congressional district in the entire country. The South Bronx also has one of the highest death rates from asthma in the U.S., according to research from Columbia University.