Car dealers throw fundraiser for Hochul after congestion pricing flip-flop

By Adam Aton | 06/11/2024 06:37 AM EDT

An invitation indicates guests will pay between $5,000 and $10,000 for the New York governor’s reelection campaign.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks with reporters on Jan. 16 in Albany, N.Y.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) speaks with reporters Jan. 16 in Albany, New York. Hans Pennink/AP Photo

Car dealers are throwing a fundraiser for New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, days after the Democrat killed a congestion pricing plan opposed by auto dealers.

The Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association is scheduled to host the Tuesday fundraiser at the Center for Automotive Education and Training in Queens. An invitation urged attendees to donate $5,000 to $10,000 for Hochul’s 2026 reelection campaign.

The fundraiser comes after Hochul, in a surprise announcement last week, said she would “indefinitely pause” a plan to make drivers pay a fee for entering lower Manhattan that had been set to begin at the end of the month. Passenger vehicles would have been charged a peak rate of $15 to enter lower Manhattan, raising about $1 billion annually that would have funded transit projects.

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Hochul said she was halting congestion pricing because it would have been too expensive for working families.

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