New York Note: New Oversight for Adams, Congestion Pricing, Asylum Seeker Shelters

February 24, 2025

Hochul to Increase Oversight of NYC

Last Thursday, Governor Hochul announced that she would not be exercising her authority to remove Mayor Adams from office. However, she explained that she will seek to increase state supervision of his administration. Hochul’s proposed changes include creating a new state deputy inspector general focused on NYC operations, establishing a fund for the City Comptroller, Public Advocate, and Council Speaker to hire outside counsel to sue the federal government if the mayor is unwilling to do so, and granting additional funds for the NYS Comptroller to scrutinize City finances. Governor Hochul also indicated that she would like a legal change to bar the Mayor from firing the head of the City’s Department of Investigation without the approval of the state inspector general. Several of these proposals would require additional approval from city and state lawmakers.

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Trump Orders End to Congestion Pricing

President Trump has ordered the federal transportation department to revoke federal approval for New York City’s congestion pricing program. Sean Duffy, the Transportation Secretary, sent a letter to Governor Hochul, outlining Trump’s objections to the program and explaining that federal officials would be in contact to “discuss the orderly cessation of toll operations.” The MTA then filed a lawsuit challenging the order. The congestion pricing program raised $48.6M in tolls during its first month. The first month’s revenue will pay for $11M of expenses related to setting up tolling cameras and other parts of the system, along with environmental projects to address concerns about urban pollution. It is not clear whether or not President Trump has legal standing to end the program.

Final HERRC to Close

Mayor Adams announced that the Asylum Seeker Arrival Center and Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center (HERRC) at the Roosevelt Hotel will close in June. The site has been open since May 2023. Within the last year, 53 asylum seeker sites and all tent-based facilities have been closed, with the remaining asylum seekers moving to the City’s shelter system in the coming months.

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