Does Governor Hochul, a Buffalo native, really understand New York City?

In Syracuse, she oversaw an ambitious $180 million project to demolish a crumbling viaduct and pledged billions of dollars in financial support for a computer chip factory near the city. She gave Rochester, which is the focus of an anti-poverty program, $100 million to help reconnect its downtown with surrounding neighborhoods.

And in her hometown of Buffalo, Gov. Kathy Hochul gave the football team, the Buffalo Bills, a new stadium with the help of hundreds of millions of dollars in state money, which is expected to be the highest public expenditure for professional football. stadium.

During her nearly three years as governor, Ms. Hochul seemed comfortable displaying her upstate bona fides. Its relationship with New York City is not as deeply established nor, critics say, as politically refined, a dynamic that was on display Wednesday when the governor announced a last-minute decision to indefinitely delay implementation of the congestion pricing plan in Manhattan. .

It was a stunning turnaround, a shot in the arm that could placate commuters outside Manhattan who were upset by the prospect of additional fees in a city that is already expensive and still recovering from its pandemic-related economic swoon.

But the move also infuriated many policymakers and lawmakers, who said the governor had simply turned his back on some of the city’s most critical needs: funding the subway, reducing traffic and improving the quality of transportation. air.

Among the disenchanted were even people who didn’t like the idea of ​​paying congestion toll fees to enter Manhattan south of 60th Street.

Mateo Flores, who works at a Midtown nonprofit and lives in Brooklyn, called Ms. Hochul’s decision “disrespectful” in its suddenness.

Ms. Flores, 24, who owns a car, said Ms. Hochul “has no idea what it’s like to live and get around in the city. “You are about to impose something on us, and you are imposing it on us, it was so abrupt and out of nowhere,” she said.

The suburban-urban divide over congestion pricing is part of a broader, long-standing schism over issues such as school funding, taxes and transportation. But Ms. Hochul is an exception, even amid this long-standing tension: She is a true upstate resident, one of the few politicians from outside New York City or its environs to have been elected or served as governor during the last century.

The shortlist’s most famous entrant is Franklin Delano Roosevelt, whose family estate in Hyde Park lies somewhere in that blurry expanse separating upstate and upstate New York.

Ms. Hochul makes Western New York her permanent home and rarely misses an opportunity to express her pride in her roots in Buffalo, the state’s second-most populous city. (She includes the hashtag #GoBills on her official X.com profile.)

But the governor also has a heavily staffed office in Manhattan, where she spends many days, and, like many newcomers to the borough, she rents an apartment in the city. She has championed various city-friendly policies, as evidenced in this year’s budget, including mayoral control of schools and an ambitious housing plan, as well as funds to address the migrant crisis.

Yet even some of her fellow transplants say she doesn’t fully understand the complexities of urban life, including how residents rely on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which oversees public transportation in New York and much of of its suburbs and would have benefited from about $1 billion a year from the plan.

“She obviously doesn’t spend enough time here to see what driving in the city is like,” said Jesse Park, a Long Island environmental consultant who grew up in Leicester, N.Y., near Buffalo. “Or what driving the MTA is like.”

The governor’s office pushed back against the criticism, noting that the “pause” on congestion pricing had been welcomed by a number of Democratic elected officials, largely from outside Manhattan, as well as several municipal unions. leading organizations, including the United Federation of Teachers and Teachers. New York City Police Benevolent Association.

“Governor Hochul is committed to the long-term future of New York City and has demonstrated it from day one, advancing policies and investments for New York City,” said Avi Small , spokesperson, citing his accomplishments, including a plan to save the city. MTA from a “fiscal cliff” last year. He added, “Governor Hochul is proud of her Upstate roots and she spends every day fighting for all 62 New York counties. »

On Thursday, some in New York said that if Hochul were disassociated from the city, it would be a good thing for New York state, which saw two of its three previous governors resign in disgrace.

“She doesn’t get caught up in drama like governors of the past,” said Victor Alonzo, 49, a downtown janitor who lives in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. “That’s what this city needs.”

Critics have called Ms. Hochul’s turnaround a boost to the suburbs in an election year in which close races are expected in those areas for both federal and state offices.

And they said she needed to learn more about New York. “I think this is a great time to encourage her to take public transportation so she can start to get a sense of what she missed growing up in Buffalo,” the Democratic senator said Thursday. State Jessica Ramos, Democrat from Queens. “Because we really need her to stand up for the vast majority of us who are the economic engine of this state.” »

Much of the criticism of the governor’s decision came from transit supporters, who gathered in Albany on Thursday for a “D-Day Rally to Save Congestion Pricing.” They attacked Ms. Hochul for “an outrageous betrayal of New York’s transit riders that gave her a narrow victory in the 2022 election.”

Blair Horner, executive director of the New York Public Interest Research Group, said Ms. Hochul’s recent support for congestion pricing — which was set to begin June 30 — made her decision on Wednesday even more puzzling.

“How do you go from 17 days ago saying, ‘It’s going to happen,’ to yesterday when you were saying, ‘It’s not going to happen,'” he said. “Even for voters who are already jaded with how Albany works, this must have come as a shock.”

But Ms. Hochul’s decision was praised by Rep. Kenny Burgos of the Bronx, who said that while he sympathized with those who deal with traffic in Manhattan, the plan would have been bad for his constituents, particularly if drivers were diverting towards his district.

“The Bronx already has the worst air quality and highest asthma rates in the entire country,” he said, adding that he believes the MTA needs to be fixed to attract riders. “It’s the chicken before the egg. You have to use public transportation well if you want people, travelers and commuters to actually use it.

The complexity of the problem was expressed by Aimee Douglas, 34, who works in technology sales and lives in Midtown Manhattan with her husband. Car owners worry about the costs of congestion pricing, she said, particularly because Ms. Douglas is due to have her first child two weeks after congestion pricing takes effect.

But as enemies of traffic, they were looking forward to it.

Still, the governor’s decision left Ms. Douglas feeling disconnected from Ms. Hochul. “I don’t think she really understands city life,” she said. “How bad traffic can be, how miserable sitting in traffic can be. »

Claire Fahy contributed reporting from Albany, New York