‘Congestion pricing is our best chance to save lives. Instead, Gov. Hochul is sentencing more New Yorkers to suffer like we have’: FSS Statement on Gov. Hochul’s Sudden Congestion Pricing Reversal

Congestion pricing reduced fatal car crashes by 27% in London — and crashes dropped both in and out of the zone.

Midtown Manhattan has the highest rate of traffic violence in all of New York City.

NEW YORK — As an organization dedicated to street safety and saving lives, Families for Safe Streets has supported congestion pricing since its inception. Governor Hochul’s threat to congestion pricing will kill and injure New Yorkers. In the congestion relief zone, traffic violence kills a New Yorker every 3.5 weeks and seriously injures a New Yorkers every 36 hours on average.

Statement from Amy Cohen, co-founder of Families for Safe Streets and mother of Sammy Cohen Eckstein:

“Legislators cannot bail out Governor Hochul’s deadly decision to postpone congestion pricing. Voting for an ‘IOU’ is voting to end congestion pricing.” 

“Families for Safe Streets is an organization made up of individuals like me who lost a loved one to traffic violence or survived a crash themselves – an organization no one should ever have to join. Every year, we hope fewer New Yorkers join our ranks – and every year more do. 

“By reducing the number of cars and trucks driving through New York City, congestion pricing is our best chance to save lives. Instead, Governor Hochul is sentencing more New Yorkers to suffer like we have, and is fighting to maintain a status quo where cars and trucks kill over 250 New Yorkers every year.” 

“Less than a month after standing with members of FSS to sign a bill named after my son, the governor and the state legislature are threatening to kill one of the biggest safety measures in a generation. What a slap in the face to every member of FSS, and every New Yorker who just wants to travel safely around the city they call home.”

“Make no mistake: killing congestion pricing is deadly. If we do this, more people will die. Congestion kills – quickly, when a car hits you or your loved ones, and slowly, as polluted air fills our children’s lungs. We won’t stop fighting until congestion pricing is fully reinstated and no New Yorker has to know the unimaginable pain of losing a loved one to traffic violence.”

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