In Syracuse, he has overseen an ambitious $180 million project to remove a damaged bridge and pledged billions in financial support for a computer chip factory near the city. He gave Rochester, which has been the focus of anti-poverty programs, $100 million to help reconnect downtown to the surrounding neighborhoods.
And in Buffalo, his hometown, Governor Kathy Hochul gave the football team, the Buffalo Bills, a new stadium with hundreds of millions of dollars in state aid, which is expected to be the highest public expenditure for professional football. stadium.
During her almost three years as governor, Ms. Hochul seemed comfortable displaying her bonafides in the south. The relationship with New York City is not as stable or, critics say, as politically organized, dynamic as was shown on Wednesday when the governor announced a last-minute decision to delay the implementation of a congestion pricing toll plan in Manhattan. .
It’s a surprising turnabout, a whiplash moment that could cheer commuters outside of Manhattan who are angry about yet another expense in an already expensive city still recovering from a pandemic-related economy.
But the decision also angered many policymakers and lawmakers, who said the governor simply ignored some of the city’s most critical needs: funding the subway, reducing traffic and improving air quality.
Among the disenchanted are even those who don’t like the idea of ​​paying a toll to enter Manhattan south of 60th Street.
Mateo Flores, who works at a Midtown nonprofit and lives in Brooklyn, called Ms. Hochul was “rude” because of the suddenness.
Ms. Flores, 24, who owns a car, said Ms. Hochul “doesn’t know how” she lives and commutes in the city. “You’re trying to impose something on us, and you just spring it on us, it’s so abrupt and out of nowhere,” she said.
The suburban-urban divide over congestion pricing is part of a broader, long-running divide over issues like school funding, taxes and transportation. But Ms. Hochul is an outlier even in the midst of longstanding tension: He is a true upstater, one of a small handful of politicians from outside New York City or the surrounding area to be elected or become governor over the last century.
The most famous of them is Franklin Delano Roosevelt, whose family in Hyde Park is somewhere in the hazy expanse that separates New York from the South and the South.
Mrs. Hochul, a Democrat, makes his permanent home in western New York and rarely misses an opportunity to express pride in his roots in Buffalo, the nation’s second most populous city. (He included the hashtag #GoBills on his official profile on X.com.)
But the governor also maintains a staffed office in Manhattan, where he spends most of his days and — like a newcomer to the borough — he rents an apartment in the city. He champions a range of pro-city policies, evidenced in this year’s budget, including mayoral control of schools and an ambitious housing plan, as well as money to tackle the migrant crisis.
Still, even some transplants say they don’t understand the complexities of city life, including how dependent residents are on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which oversees public transit in New York City and many suburban areas and is the beneficiary of that. $1 billion annually from the plan.
“They obviously don’t spend enough time here to see what’s driving in the city,” said Jesse Park, an environmental consultant from Long Island who grew up in Leicester, N.Y., near Buffalo. “Or what it’s like to ride the MTA.”
The governor’s office has pushed back against the criticism, noting that the “pause” on congestion pricing has been supported by some Democratic elected officials, mostly from outside Manhattan, as well as some prominent city unions, including the United Federation of Teachers and the New York City Police Benevolent Association. .
“Governor Hochul is committed to the long-term future of New York City and has shown that from Day 1, policies and investments are moving forward for New York City,” said Avi Small, a spokesman, citing his achievements, including a plan to save the MTA from the “fiscal cliff” last year. He added: “Governor Hochul is proud of his roots and he spends every day fighting for all 62 New York counties.”
In a statement late Thursday, Mayor Eric Adams called Ms. Hochul is “an invaluable partner for New York City,” citing efforts in the migrant crisis, closing illegal marijuana shops and using them for more affordable housing, among other issues. “This is an investment in public safety on our roads and in our trains and more in the past,” he said. “New Yorkers are lucky to have a fighter like Governor Hochul in their corner.”
On Thursday, some in New York City said Hochul’s separation from the city would be better for New York State, which saw two of its three previous governors resign in disgrace.
“He’s not caught up in the drama like the governors of the past,” said Victor Alonzo, 49, a Midtown concierge who lives in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. “This is what this city needs.”
Critics are characterized by the reversal of Ms. Hochul is a sop for the edge in the election year in which close races are expected in that area, for both federal and state offices.
And he says he needs to learn more about New York City. “I think this is the perfect time to encourage them to take public transportation so they can experience what they missed growing up in Buffalo,” State Sen. Jessica Ramos, a Queens Democrat, said Thursday. “Because we really need him to stand up for the majority of us who are the economic engine of this country.”
Most of the criticism of the governor’s decision came from public transit advocates, who gathered in Albany on Thursday for a “D-Day Rally to Save Congestion Fares.” He attacked Ms. Hochul for “the appalling betrayal of public transit riders in New York City that delivered a narrow 2022 election victory.”
Blair Horner, executive director of the New York Public Interest Research Group, said Ms. Hochul’s new support for the rush – which is scheduled to start June 30 – made his decision on Wednesday all the more baffling.
“How did you go from 17 days ago saying ‘It’s going to happen,’ to yesterday when you said, ‘It’s not going to happen,'” he said. “Even for the voting public who are already jaded about the way Albany operates, this must have been a shock.”
But the decision Ms. Hochul was hailed by Assemblyman Kenny Burgos, Bronx Democrat, who said while he sympathized with those dealing with traffic in Manhattan, the plan would be bad for his constituents, especially if drivers diverted to his borough.
“The Bronx already has the worst air quality and the highest asthma rates in the entire country,” he said, adding that he feels the MTA needs to be fixed to lure riders back. “It’s the chicken before the egg. You need to get public transport right if you want people and strahangers and commuters to actually use it.
The complexity of the problem was echoed by Aimee Douglas, 34, who works in technology sales and lives in Midtown Manhattan with her husband. Car owners are worried about the cost of congestion, he said, especially because Ms. Douglas will have his first child two weeks after congestion pricing comes into effect.
But as a traffic hater, he expected it.
Still, the governor’s move left Ms. Douglas feeling disconnected from Ms. Hochul. “I don’t think they really understand city life,” he said. “How bad the traffic is, how sad it is to sit in traffic.”
Claire Fahy contributed reporting from Albany, NY
