Tuesday’s Headlines: ‘Gridlock Gov’ Alert Edition

The city kicks off its “Gridlock Alert” days on Monday — the annual ritual of announcing, but not doing anything about, soul- and productivity-crushing traffic for anyone driving into the city.

Officials have designated 20 gridlock days for 2025, which is the typical practice. But this year, it’s worth noting that the congestion could’ve been a lot lighter if Gov. Hochul hadn’t shelved the MTA’s power to raise congestion tolls up to 25 percent on the alert days. She did this after the New York Post threw a fit about the long-known provision.

The Post ginned up the outrage last Christmas — when most people weren’t paying attention — just days ahead of the toll’s much-anticipated launch on Jan. 5. Rather than hold the line on congestion pricing, as she has done since President Trump re-entered the White House, Hochul immediately caved and promised not to implement the dynamic pricing scheme.

Maybe when the governor’s stuck in bumper-to-bumper Manhattan traffic next week, she’ll reconsider. She knows congestion pricing works, after all.

In other news:

• Killer driver Edwin Cruz Gomez was indicted for murder in the horrific vehicular killing of Jhoanny Alvarez. (Gothamist. NBC New York, amNY)
• LIRR workers kicked their option to strike to next year. (Crain’s, Gothamist)
• The number of “licensed” dollar vans has dropped. (amNY)
• A major car crash on Ninth Street at Second Avenue in Brooklyn left one person dead and four others injured; the driver was arrested and charged. (Brooklyn Paper)
• The City covered cabbies’ righteous push for access to commercial delivery zones so they can use the bathroom, but didn’t mention DOT’s warnings about the potential impact on traffic. (Read about that in Streetsblog, natch.)
• DOT is installing a new mid-block crosswalk on W. 72nd Street. (West Side Rag)
• Council Member Joann Ariola defended her vote to override the mayor’s veto of illegal street vending decriminalization. (QNS)
• A Bronx driver was sentenced to four to 12 years in prison for a 2021 fatal crash in Brooklyn. (Brooklyn Eagle)