The News

 With help from Cris Seda Chabrier

Gov. Kathy Hochul is not taking any prisoners on congestion pricing.

The otherwise mild-mannered moderate from Buffalo was fired up at an impromptu Grand Central news conference-turned-primal yell after the Trump administration moved to rescind federal approval of the controversial toll program.

She invoked the American Revolution. She swore. She mockingly referenced Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s “Real World” appearance. And Hochul jokingly disclosed she’s been watching the first of the hyper-violent Rambo movies, “First Blood,” as she prepares for the legal fight.

The governor pledged to counter Trump’s effort to halt congestion pricing in federal court and appeared to relish the coming battle after the president leaned into a monarchial image of himself.

“The streets of this city, where battles were fought; we stood up to a king,” she said. “And we won then. And in case you don’t know New Yorkers, when we’re in a fight, we do not back down.”

At that moment, Hochul fully embraced congestion pricing — a program she had been so skeptical of less than a year ago that she put it on pause out of concern the tolls would hurt Democrats running in crucial House races.

She subsequently put the toll program back on track after Election Day and lowered the toll from $15 to $9, arguing it was a savings.

Congestion pricing’s advent on Jan. 5 came with little fanfare from the governor’s office. And as President Donald Trump weighed whether to kill it, she negotiated with him.

Her Wednesday blast of Trump after he rescinded the tolls was a different Hochul than the staid and cautious version usually seen in public. She couched her opposition to Trump in an argument that state governments should be able to set their own policies.

“I don’t care if you love congestion pricing or hate it,” she said. “This is an attack on our sovereign identity, our independence from Washington. And we are a nation of states. This is what we fought for.”

Toll supporters had stressed the program was working as intended by reducing Manhattan traffic below 60th Street. The tolls are also expected to help raise $15 billion in bonds in order to upgrade the region’s decaying mass transit infrastructure.

Opponents have decried the tolls’ impact on commuters as inflation continues to impact blue-collar workers. Democrats lost a bruising November election, in part, over the rising cost of living.

Even some Democrats cheered Trump’s action on Wednesday.

“I’m thrilled,” Democratic Assemblymember David Weprin told Playbook. “This is something that the public didn’t want, and to try to pretend it’s about reducing congestion was wrong from the beginning.”

Hochul’s aggressive support for keeping the tolls in place comes with clear political risks. The program has supporters — left-leaning transit advocates and business-backed organizations who believe the infrastructure boost will help the city’s economy.

But her likely Republican opponents plan to capitalize on the governor lashing herself to the tolls.

“This is what happens when you play politics rather than implementing sound policy,” Rep. Mike Lawler said. “The governor is going to own this one way or the other.” — Nick Reisman

IT’S THURSDAY Got news? Send it our way: Jeff Coltin, Emily Ngo and Nick Reisman.

WHERE’S KATHY? In New York City with no public schedule.

WHERE’S ERIC? In New York City, where he will speak at the Albanian Islamic Cultural Center’s Interfaith Breakfast, make a public safety-related announcement in the Bronx and speak at the 1,000 Strong Part III event.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “This is what we do. We joke at each other. Some of our commentary is, you know, inappropriate if you’re on the stage. And he spoke with me, he says, ‘You know, Eric, I mean, you know, we’re on TV. I should not have said that. I apologize to you.’” — Mayor Eric Adams to NY1 about border czar Tom Homan’s remark last week that he’ll be “up his butt” if the mayor doesn’t cooperate with federal immigration enforcement efforts.

— More on Adams’ latest remarks here by POLITICO’s Emily Ngo.

YO, ADRIENNE!: New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams was on her way to a quiet retirement. Now the low-key politician is being drafted to run for mayor in a last-ditch effort by some of the state’s biggest political power players to block former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, POLITICO reports.

After Playbook and the New York Post reported Wednesday morning on the movement to draft her, Adams spent the day making calls to “tier one” political leaders to discuss a possible candidacy, two people familiar with the conversations said.

And now “she’s seriously considering.”

Unlike her predecessors as speaker, the term-limited Democrat had been firm in her lack of interest in seeking higher office. But she’s warming up to the idea following conversations and phone calls encouraging her to run.

“When I say people are begging, I mean begging,” said one Democratic operative friendly with the speaker. “If she does this, it’ll be 1000 percent because she’s been drafted.”

Among those interested in a run include leaders of District Council 37, the largest municipal union in New York which has been close to Mayor Eric Adams. Attorney General Letitia James is a top booster too, as Playbook first reported.

With little money, less time, a low profile and a leadership style that’s left members all across the political spectrum frustrated at times, Adrienne Adams would have a difficult path to victory if she gets in at all. But the latest recruitment effort speaks to the depth of frustration and anxiety top New York politicos are feeling about their choices in the race.

Mayor Adams has a near-impossible path to reelection and is trying to hold onto power. The ex-governor is poised to jump in and replicate Eric Adams’ outer borough coalition — but many in the political class loathe Cuomo and would do anything to keep him out of City Hall.

Among those speaking highly of Adrienne Adams, the Post reports: the Rev. Al Sharpton, Rep. Greg Meeks and Cuomo’s one-time punching bag, former Mayor Bill de Blasio. — Jeff Coltin

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: An ethics watchdog group filed a complaint with the New York court system against Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, arguing his effort to dismiss Adams’ case violates state ethics rules.

American Oversight, a nonpartisan nonprofit that’s regularly opposed the Trump administration, complained to the state’s Attorney Grievance Committee on Wednesday night, hours after the extraordinary court hearing reviewing Bove’s decision.

“Letting an elected official off the hook for serious, criminal charges in exchange for political support is textbook corruption and could be grounds for suspension of an attorney’s law license,” said American Oversight interim Executive Director Chioma Chukwu.

The Department of Justice didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Bove, who is a member of the New York bar, has ardently defended the move and said it wasn’t a quid pro quo. — Jeff Coltin

DOGEING THE NEXT ONE: City Comptroller Brad Lander shot off a letter to the city’s finance department Wednesday looking for a plan to safeguard the municipal purse from Elon Musk.

In his missive, Lander asked the beancounters for a debrief on last week’s $80 million federal fund reversal at the hands of the Department of Government Efficiency — and how they are preparing if Musk tries something like it again.

“I believe that additional action is needed to prevent the potential unauthorized and unilateral withdrawal of funds from City accounts moving forward,” Lander wrote.

To that end, he asked the finance department to describe current and future safeguards to prevent the feds from reversing payments without the city’s permission and inquired into whether the department has initiated a review into the yoinking of funds. Lander also asked for information about how the city is typically notified of payment reversals and the process of disputing them.

He gave the finance department until Monday to respond.

“Recovering the … funds, and preventing any additional unauthorized clawbacks, is vital to maintaining our City’s budget and ensuring the continued delivery of essential services,” Lander wrote.

A City Hall spokesperson noted the administration is pursuing a lawsuit and has made changes to immediately alert officials of future large-dollar debits to the bank account in question.

“While it’s alarming that Brad Lander — who is supposed to be the city’s financial manager — lacks a basic understanding of how a federal-regulated banking system works, New Yorkers can rest assured that the Adams administration does,” spokesperson Liz Garcia said in a statement.

Last week, DOGE clawed back $80 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency funds earmarked for migrant services, employing a clause in banking regulations that allowed the government to pluck the money back without the city’s permission. — Joe Anuta

More from the city:

— A Cuomo supporter is sending around a save the date for a March 4th reception with the former governor — the clearest indication yet he’s readying a mayoral bid. (POLITICO)

— The NYPD has inked contracts for a canine-mounted camera system, an unmanned submersible and spent more than $750,000 on a robot dog with gas-sniffing attachments, per disclosures of its surveillance technology. (POLITICO)

— Targeting Anthony Weiner, fellow City Council candidate Sarah Batchu wants to ban registered sex offenders and people convicted of other sex crimes from holding office. (City & State)