NYC Braces for More Subway ‘Hell’ as Toll Halt Risks Repairs

  • Funding for system upgrades in jeopardy without the revenue
  • Riders may face delays and suspensions like those in 2017

Commuters at the Fulton Street subway station in New York on April 25.

Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg

New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s last-minute decision to indefinitely halt a congestion pricing plan could send transit riders back to 2017’s infamous “Summer of Hell,” when chronic train delays left furious riders stranded on platforms for hours.

Hochul on Wednesday paused a plan set to begin at the end of this month that would have charged motorists driving into Manhattan’s central business district, citing concern over inflation and financial pressures on working-class families. The revenue was expected to generate $15 billion to modernize New York City’s century-old transit system.