Mayor Mamdani made his first post-inauguration look with Gov. Hochul on Monday at a rally to have a good time the one-year anniversary of New York Metropolis’s congestion pricing program.
However regardless of the occasion’s upbeat give attention to this system lowering automotive visitors by 11% and producing upward of half-a-billion {dollars} in new income, lurking behind the grins was a extra contentious challenge that didn’t get any airtime: The democratic-socialist mayor’s major transit-related marketing campaign promise to make the town’s public buses free for all.
Hochul, a average Democrat, opposes the mayor’s proposal, as a substitute favoring a extra focused strategy of subsidizing fare for low-income residents. Mamdani’s Monday omission was particularly noticeable as he on the 2025 mayoral marketing campaign path talked about his pledge to remove bus fares at almost all public appearances, particularly ones associated to transit.
New York Metropolis Mayor Zohran Mamdani joins New York Governor Kathy Hochul and Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is Chair and CEO Janno Lieber in Manhattan to have a good time the successes of 1 yr of congestion pricing in Manhattan on Monday, January 5, 2026. (Michael Appleton/Mayoral Pictures Workplace)
The free bus proposal, which Mamdani’s crew estimates would value about $800 million yearly, is contingent on state motion and funding. Towards that backdrop, the plan is predicted to be one of many largest coverage priorities Mamdani has in Albany throughout this spring’s state legislative session.
Requested why he didn’t deliver up his bus plan in the course of the look with Hochul, Mamdani spokeswoman Dora Pekec mentioned, “Just yesterday, Mayor Mamdani touted his fast and free bus proposal while riding the only free bus in the city, the Q70, to hear directly from New Yorkers the impact fare-free rides can have on their lives.”
A metropolis authorities veteran, who spoke on situation of anonymity, prompt there was good motive for Mamdani to avoid his bus plan Monday.
“With the State of the State address one week away, the smart play is to avoid getting out in front of his skis on issues where Gov. Hochul holds the keys,” the particular person mentioned, referencing Hochul’s annual speech set for subsequent week.
Mamdani’s bus plan turned such a staple of his marketing campaign that crowds at his rallies had been accustomed to chanting “free” when he requested what his administration would make the buses. To pay for the free buses, Mamdani has proposed growing taxes on millionaires and companies, one other plan Hochul has been lukewarm about.
Whereas he didn’t reference free buses Monday, Mamdani did point out congestion pricing has been an incredible income generator for the MTA.
“We know that that increase could grow even further in the years to come as more and more money can be then spent on the infrastructure that would make that commute smoother, make it faster, make it more reliable,” he mentioned.
