New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy came to office six years ago as a Democrat promising to save public transit in his state.
Instead of becoming a hometown hero, Murphy’s now being blamed in two states for worsening the already dysfunctional regional transit system that surrounds and serves New York City. Democrats, advocates and environmentalists across the region increasingly cast Murphy as a mass transit villain and New York’s business leaders are souring on him.
The problems start at home with New Jersey Transit — a state agency that runs the nation’s second-largest commuter train service and a sprawling network of bus routes. The agency, which Murphy has repeatedly pledged to fix even “if it kills me,” is facing a $100 million budget deficit this summer that will grow to nearly $1 billion next year. New York City businesses rely on NJ Transit to bring workers in on time, making it an issue for both states.
At the same time, Murphy has inserted himself into the debate about a plan to charge exorbitant new tolls to enter lower Manhattan, an effort New York officials say will raise $15 billion so the Metropolitan Transportation Authority can fund upgrades to New York’s subway and bus systems.
The so-called congestion pricing plan is a sort of holy grail for New York civic leaders trying to reduce traffic with tolls to fund public transit. It’s also angered drivers in New Jersey, which is heavily dependent on cars.
Money from the tolls was the last piece of the puzzle to solving the MTA’s budget problems after Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul backed a plan to raise taxes for the agency last year. All that work — heavy lifting across generations of New York politics — is now being undermined by her New Jersey counterpart at the same time Murphy is shying away from raising taxes to solve NJ Transit’s problems.
Together, the lack of a plan in New Jersey and a Murphy lawsuit aimed at New York is creating the unusual situation where the governor of one state is being blamed for problems in two. While tension between New Jersey and New York is nothing new, this could undermine Murphy’s legacy as an environmentally friendly leader who came to office backed by Al Gore and allies who said he would be among the nation’s greenest governors.
Kathy Wylde, the influential president and CEO of the business-allied Partnership for New York City, said she was annoyed and disappointed by Murphy’s approach to transit funding in his state and his interference with New York’s plans.
“Because he’s somebody that commuted to Manhattan from New Jersey for most of his career, he knows the problem, he knows the importance of our mass transit system, and I’d like to know how he thinks........