Mayoral hopeful Andrew Cuomo brazenly flip-flopped on congestion pricing yet again, saying he supports the Manhattan toll program he initially fought for — after last year calling for it to be paused.
Cuomo insisted in a New York Times interview Tuesday that he not only can’t think of any issues he changed his mind on, but his opinion on congestion pricing has never wavered.
The former governor had approved the controversial plan to toll vehicles entering Manhattan south of 60th Street, but last year wrote an op-ed for the New York Post urging leaders to pump the brakes on the first-in-the-nation program.
But when asked by the New York Times whether he supports congestion pricing now that it shows signs of success, Cuomo gave a blunt response: “Yes.”
Earlier in the interview, Cuomo echoed the arguments he made in The Post op-ed.
He contended his past opposition was rooted in concern that congestion pricing would drive people into unsafe subways.
“All I said was, let’s study this before we do it in this moment, to make sure people aren’t going to say, ‘You know what, another reason for me to stay home,’” he said.
The apparent flip-flop quickly rankled at least one Democratic operative.
“Andrew Cuomo has no core principles, he’ll say whatever it takes to claw his way back into power,” the operative told The Post. “He’s exactly why so many people have lost faith in politics: a flip-flopping wannabe king who ran to the Hamptons when things got tough.”
Read the full article here
