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Dear New Yorkers,

With less than a month until it was set to start, Gov. Kathy Hochul has slammed the brakes on congestion pricing for New York City.

The plan to toll vehicles entering Manhattan south of 60th Street was years in the making. It was meant to collect the fees as a way to ease traffic, raise billions for transit upgrades and improve air quality.

Hochul on Wednesday said she is indefinitely delaying the June 30 start of congestion pricing, which would have made New York the first city in North America to follow the lead of London, Stockholm and Singapore in tolling vehicles in their most congested areas.

The governor said she will work with city and federal officials to come up with alternative ways to fill what the MTA had projected to be $15 billion for improvements to the transit system.

Hochul is now fielding anger from environmentalists and mass transit advocates as well as many of New York’s most prominent business leaders, who were longtime supporters of the congestion pricing proposal to raise money for the MTA and to reduce traffic.

Read more about Hochul’s surprise reversal here, and the potential economic implications of the delay here.

Weather scoop by New York Metro Weather Thursday's Weather Rating: 5/10. Periods of showers, clouds, and humidity expected throughout the day with high temperatures in the mid 80s. Some peeks of sunshine are expected — not a total washout — but the vibes are unstable out there today!

Our Other Top Stories

Last month, Mayor Eric Adams announced a fast-tracked panel to overhaul the city’s charter — and then filled it with many close associates. This week, the newly formed Charter Review Commission met for its first public hearing to help inform potential changes to municipal bylaws. But much of the committee was not present — and only a handful of members of the public attended in person, though a few dozen showed up on Zoom. Another hearing will be held today at 10 a.m. at Staten Island Borough Hall; additional upcoming meetings, including a second one in Queens, are set to be announced over the next coming weeks. Drag queens, revelers and fetish-focused out-of-towners make business brisk all year at Purple Passion in Chelsea, but Pride Month brings a big bump. THE CITY interviewed the store’s manager and a longtime staffer about their work, plus their best seasonal tips, for Summer & THE CITY, our new newsletter celebrating the best of the summer in New York.

Sign up here to get THE CITY’s free summer newsletter.

Reporter’s Notebook

Mayor Asks Judge to Put Solitary Ban on Hold

Mayor Eric Adams wants a federal judge overseeing the city Department of Correction to stop an upcoming solitary confinement ban, according to a court filing Wednesday.

In January, the City Council voted to override the mayor’s veto of a bill to ban solitary confinement in jails — after a weeks-long public campaign by the Adams administration to keep the measure from becoming law.

The ban is scheduled to go into effect on July 28 — after years of back-and-forth on the issue.

On Wednesday, Sheryl Neufeld, a top city Law Department official, submitted a letter to Laura Taylor Swain, the chief judge for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, asking her to suspend the ban until the DOC can enact other long-awaited reforms.

Neufeld noted that City Hall has also hired a new law firm to assist in the case.

— Reuven Blau

Things To Do

Here’s what’s going on around the city this week.

Thursday, June 6: The 2024 Photoville Festival, an outdoor exhibition of photography in more than 85 locations around the city. Runs through June 16.  Friday, June 7: A show by Circus Amok, a queer and justice-oriented troupe that has been performing since 1989. Free from 6 to 7 p.m. at Socrates Sculpture Park in Queens. Friday, June 7: Films on the Green: “Final Set”, an outdoor screening of a French tennis drama (with English subtitles). Free from 8:30 to 10:30 p.m. at Washington Square Park.

THE KICKER: The State Senate on Wednesday passed the “Flaco Act,” which would force state owned buildings to be designed in a way to reduce bird collisions and prevent deaths of our feathered friends — like the beloved owl.

Thanks, as always, for reading. Make it a great Thursday.

Love,

THE CITY

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