Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman is making New York City’s congestion pricing plan a top campaign issue, telling suburban voters from Long Island to the Hudson Valley that he would move to scrap the toll program as soon as he reaches the governor’s office.
Blakeman, a Republican now running for governor in 2026, said the controversial system that charges drivers to enter Manhattan south of 60th Street would be his first target in Albany.
“Congestion pricing would be gone on the first day,” Blakeman declared, framing the toll as a direct hit to Nassau and Suffolk residents who commute into the city for work, medical appointments, and entertainment.
For many Long Islanders, trips into Manhattan are already costly between LIRR fares, parking fees, bridge and tunnel tolls, and high gas prices. Critics like Blakeman argue that congestion pricing piles an additional burden on suburban families who may not have reliable transit options from communities like Hicksville, Ronkonkoma, or Patchogue, or who need their cars for tools, deliveries, or late-night shifts.
The congestion pricing program, pushed for years by New York City and state officials, charges most vehicles entering Manhattan’s central business district. Supporters say the plan was designed to reduce gridlock, improve air quality, and generate billions of dollars for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to modernize subways, buses, and commuter rail lines such as the Long Island Rail Road.
Transit advocates argue that Long Island riders stand to benefit long term from new signals, modern train cars, and more reliable service into Penn Station and Grand Central Madison. They say every dollar raised from congestion pricing helps shore up an aging system that hundreds of thousands of Nassau and Suffolk residents depend on every week.
Blakeman and other opponents see it very differently. They contend the policy unfairly targets suburban and outer-borough drivers while leaving city residents less affected. Small business owners who rely on trucks and vans to move goods into Manhattan have also voiced concern about higher costs that could ultimately be passed on to Long Island consumers.
The debate escalated further this week when former President Donald Trump, who grew up in Queens and built much of his real estate brand in Manhattan, blasted congestion pricing on his social media platform. Trump called the tolls a “disaster” for New York and demanded they be ended immediately, claiming similar schemes have failed elsewhere and predicting this one will too.
Trump’s post, in which he said he hates to see New York “being destroyed so rapidly” by what he described as misguided policies, quickly circulated among conservative and suburban groups, including many on Long Island who have long complained about the rising cost of crossing into the city.
The former president has taken aim at congestion pricing before, at one point proclaiming the policy “dead” and declaring that Manhattan and New York as a whole had been “saved.” Those earlier comments raised expectations among opponents that the plan might be halted, though state officials continued to push it forward.
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s team fired back in playful fashion on social media, posting a GIF from the cartoon “SpongeBob SquarePants” with the caption: “THE CAMERAS ARE STAYING ON!!!” The message signaled the governor’s intention to keep congestion pricing in place and suggested she is not backing away from the fight.
That online back-and-forth highlights just how polarizing congestion pricing has become, especially along the New York City–Long Island corridor. The issue has opened up sharp divisions between Democrats and Republicans, urban transit advocates and suburban commuters, and between those who prioritize reducing traffic and emissions and those more focused on keeping driving costs down.
For Long Islanders who work in Manhattan’s hospitals, law firms, restaurants, and financial institutions, the stakes are personal. Some rely on the LIRR, others drive because of odd hours, childcare responsibilities, or a lack of direct train connections from eastern Suffolk and parts of the North Shore. Many are now watching closely to see whether the tolls stay, are modified, or are repealed altogether.
Blakeman is betting that anger over congestion pricing will resonate in Nassau and Suffolk counties, where Republicans have gained ground in recent elections by tapping into concerns about taxes, public safety, and quality-of-life issues. His promise to wipe out the tolls on day one is an attempt to draw a sharp contrast with Hochul and to cement himself as the champion of drivers in the suburbs.
As the 2026 governor’s race begins to take shape, congestion pricing is emerging as more than just a transportation policy dispute. It is quickly becoming a symbol of the broader tug-of-war between New York City and its surrounding suburbs — and Long Island voters are likely to play a key role in deciding which vision prevails.