By Jeff Coltin, Ry Rivard, Emily Ngo and Nick Reisman

City Council is holding a hearing today on congestion pricing as the tolling system moves ahead for parts of Manhattan. | Getty

The New York City Council doesn’t really have a role to play in implementing congestion pricing.

But that isn’t stopping them from holding an oversight hearing this morning on “congestion pricing and the MTA’s fiscal future.”

It’ll be “another opportunity for the public to weigh in” on congestion pricing, both for and against, “and creating space for that discourse,” Council Transportation Committee Chair Selvena Brooks-Powers told Playbook.

The Traffic Mobility Review Board has the real power now, as it decides who will or won’t be getting exceptions or discounts to the possible $23 fee to drive into Manhattan below 60th Street. The council knows it, and members sent the board a letter Tuesday asking for taxis and for-hire-vehicles to be exempted.

But the mobility review board, which also meets today, (and wasn’t invited to the council meeting) isn’t allowing public comment, just written submissions.

So it’s good politics for the council. Constituents and interest groups are given time to say what they want about the controversial program in an official setting. Members themselves can show support or express concerns.

And best of all, the MTA is showing up. The authority skipped the May executive budget hearing (“scheduling conflict”) but NYC Transit President Richard Davey and other MTA staff are planning to testify and take questions.

They’ll be grilled over “what is happening in terms of the steps towards implementation,” Brooks-Powers said, and how the new revenue will be spent. She wants better public transportation for outer borough neighborhoods like hers in Southeast Queens. Councilmember Althea Stevens said she wants to hear about traffic impacts on her South Bronx district.

Needless to say, congestion pricing has its critics. Like Transport Workers Union President John Samuelsen, who’s raised concerns about the impact on (the relatively low number) of low income car commuters.

“Janno Lieber isn’t going to get blamed, Eric Adams is going to get blamed – he’s got to be aware of that reality,” Samuelsen said about the MTA chair and CEO, with whom he’s in the midst of a bitter fight.

New Yorkers will blame their council members too, so the hearing will at least give them something to point to to say they took action.

But let’s be clear: Some people love congestion pricing. So while some supportive organizations were surprised by the hearing at first, they’re seizing the opportunity too.

The automobile skeptics of Transportation Alternatives, the Regional Plan Association, Bike New York and others are rallying this morning and releasing a report: How Congestion Pricing Will Improve Your Life.

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

WHERE’S KATHY? In Suffolk County with no public schedule (she does have a Hamptons fundraiser, as Playbook reported Monday).

WHERE’S ERIC? Giving an housing and economic development related announcement in Manhattan and attending older adult town hall in the Bronx. Then he's giving remarks at a flag-rising ceremony for Peru, speaking at a Universal Hip Hop Museum and iHeartRadio event and attending events for Haitian heritage and the grand opening for Shawarma Shabazi.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “You’re looking to date. You may drive by. You may see eye candy sitting down somewhere, you may want to park and come and slip them your number. Come have fun, man. Outdoor dining is the way to go,” — Mayor Eric Adams on the benefits of the city’s new program for streeteries, which he signed into law.

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Everything is fine between them, said Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul, after state court papers showed criticism over the migrant crisis. | Office of Gov. Kathy Hochul

PARTNERSHIP UNDER PRESSURE: We’re on good terms, Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams insisted in public Wednesday even as letters they exchanged in court revealed otherwise amid the deepening migrant crisis.

A Hochul lawyer accused Adams’ team of a lack of coordination, failing to use housing sites offered by the state and the “decision” to have migrants sleep outdoors.

Counsel for Adams, among other requests, asked Hochul to issue an order barring towns statewide from refusing to take in migrants and join in the city’s call for President Joe Biden to declare a federal emergency.

The documents, obtained by Playbook, also show the state taking a defensive stance as pressure mounts for Hochul to do more. On Wednesday, the Adams administration updated the number of migrants who have come to the city since last spring to more than 101,200.

Yet Adams and Hochul stressed they are not at odds like governors and mayors past.

“I like her; she likes me, and the things that we can learn from each other, we are going to do together,” Adams told reporters.

Hochul on NY1 later in the day concurred: “We’re here to help. When we identify areas where we can work together, that’s what we’re doing.” — Emily Ngo

New this morning:

– Attorney General Tish James took the unusual step of recusing herself from a case as the migrant crisis heats up, highlighting her political divide with Hochul. (POLITICO)

The political comeback for Christine Quinn, the former City Council speaker, might start with caring for horses. | AP Photo

HORSING AROUND: Christine Quinn was a front runner in the 2013 mayoral horse race until well-funded horse lovers attacked her for not banning carriage rides in Central Park.

A decade later, there are Quinn-for-office whispers again, and the former City Council speaker is fundraising — for horses.

Quinn emailed folks on her political list Wednesday a request to donate to GallopNYC, “the only therapeutic horseback riding program in New York City.” They’re reviving a program for her homeless family clients at WIN, where she’s CEO.

Turns out her reputation as a horse hater is ill-gotten. Quinn’s been riding saddles since she was four years old and personally owns three warmblood colts.

Even if the carriage critics at NYCLASS show their love for horses in a different way than Quinn, their 2013 advocacy never paid off: Horses are still clopping on city streets. — Jeff Coltin

More from the city:

– Amid a flurry of bad press and government criticism over allegations that migrant services contractor DocGo is misleading and mistreating aylum-seekers, the company is looking to hire a director of government relations and relationship management.

DocGo didn’t respond to a request for comment. — Jeff Coltin

— Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa was arrested after blocking a road outside of a migrant housing facility. (QNS)

— Legislation that will force broker fees on landlords gets major support from NYC Council. (New York Daily)

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Manhattan Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal is urging Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign a measure into law to address wrongful death claims. | Hans Pennink/AP Photo

HOCHUL VETO WATCH: A battle over expanding the state’s wrongful death law is showing no signs of letting up as the post-session lobbying of Hochul continues.

Supporters call it a needed update that would aid people of color in bringing wrongful death claims. Opponents call it highly problematic for businesses and local governments that would be exposed to new legal liabilities.

Bill sponsor Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal urged Hochul to sign the measure in a Buffalo News op-ed, writing it would “hold corporations accountable.”

“It basically tells lower- and middle-class survivors that they need not apply,” Hoylman-Sigal wrote of the current law.

The business-backed Lawsuit Reform Alliance, meanwhile, is stepping up its efforts to have Hochul once again veto the measure as she did earlier this year.

“Well, the bill’s top supporter is the special interest that would profit the most if signed into law: the personal injury trial lawyers – a special interest that former-Gov. Andrew Cuomo once referred to as ‘the single most powerful political force in Albany,’” said Tom Stebbins, the group’s executive director. — Nick Reisman

More from Albany:

— The state Department of Labor has pulled back on anti-wage theft efforts. (New York Focus)

— Cannabis business owners are frustrated by a legal challenge that has put licenses in limbo. (New York Times)

— Hochul is sending the National Guard to Rochester after local officials sought more security with the arrival of migrants. (WXXI)

RILEY NOD: Democratic House candidate Josh Riley’s second bid for a congressional seat that stretches from Central New York to the Hudson Valley is getting the backing of the moderate New Democrat Coalition Action Fund, Playbook has learned.

Riley lost in 2022 in the currently configured 19th district to Republican Rep. Marc Molinaro, and now the Ithaca resident is seeking a rematch. — Nick Reisman

– Rep. George Santos’ fellow House Republicans said he’d be dealt with quickly, when his lies were revealed, and, uh, that was eight months ago and he’s still there. (Vanity Fair)

– A campaign staffer for Santos was indicted in federal court in Brooklyn for allegedly impersonating an aide to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on fundraising phone calls. (POLITICO)

— Owners of the biggest landfill in New York want to expand it, but are facing a fight from local opposition. (Spectrum News)

— K9 Galli, Rockland’s newest police dog, found a woman who had gone missing. (LoHud)

— There’s a new $10 million program to help businesses in the South Bronx. (The City)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Dave McCormick … ABC’s Brittany Shepherd … HuffPost’s Elise Foley … Fox News’ Will Ricciardella … New York City Council Press Secretary Breena Mulligan … Nina Bianco … Mike Buczkiewicz of “Morning Joe” … Yousef Saba … Kensey Johnson … Matt Mittenthal … Daniel Penchina … (was Wednesday): Scott Malkin, founder of Value Retail Plc and co-owner of the N.Y. Islands ... Barbara Underwood ... Caron Bernstein ... Julian Olidort (h/ts Jewish Insider)

IN MEMORIAM: “New York City’s first Emergency Management director Jerome Hauer dies” – ABC7

MEDIAWATCH – David Cruz is now politics editor for the N.Y. Daily News. He most recently was people and power desk editor at Gothamist/WNYC.

MAKING MOVES — Meg Glander has joined the communications infrastructure firm Crown Castle as an external affairs manager. She previously served as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s Hudson Valley regional director. Joseph Palermo is now COO of Crowell & Moring LLP. He most recently was COO of Lowenstein Sandler LLP.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Allie Feldman Taylor, founder and president of Voters for Animal Rights, and Scott Taylor, software engineer at Shopify, on Tuesday welcomed Zosia Moon Taylor.

– NYC's biggest buildings are complying with the landmark emissions Law. (Bloomberg Law)

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