Furhan Ahmad: Congestion Pricing Relief Needed for Essential Workers

Furhan Ahmad, a retired firefighter, assembly candidate, calls for congestion pricing relief for teachers, nurses, first responders who keep Manhattan running

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, June 3, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Furhan Ahmad, Democratic candidate for State Assembly in District 66, today called for congestion pricing relief for the teachers, nurses, firefighters, and police officers who commute into Manhattan to do their jobs.

The math no longer works for working people. Manhattan's median asking rent hit a record of about $4,700 a month in early 2026, according to StreetEasy. Under the standard rule that landlords want tenants earning forty times the rent, a typical one-bedroom now takes an income of roughly $180,000 a year to qualify. No public school teacher, staff nurse, firefighter, or police officer earns close to that. So they live where they can afford to, in the outer boroughs and beyond, and they drive in.

Furhan Ahmad spent 23 years as a public servant, first as an EMT, then as an NYPD officer, then as an FDNY firefighter. He knows the commute, and he knows who makes it.

"The people who teach our kids, who staff the emergency room, who run into the fire, almost none of them can afford to live in the neighborhood they serve," said Ahmad. "They drive in before dawn because the trains don't run for the shifts they work, and then they pay a toll to do the job that keeps this city alive."
The relief in the program does not reach them. The tax credit is for residents who live inside the zone and earn under a set income threshold. A nurse commuting from Queens or a teacher driving in from the Bronx gets nothing.

"We can keep congestion pricing and the transit it pays for, and still protect the workers this city cannot run without," Ahmad said. "We just have to decide that the people who serve New York matter as much as the revenue."

Ahmad's campaign is built on three pillars: Healthcare, Human Dignity and Quality of Life, and Housing, with climate resilience running through all three. He is the son of a Pakistani immigrant father who drove a cab in this city and a graduate of CUNY.

The Democratic primary for Assembly District 66 is June 23.

Shivani Dhir
Furhan for Assembly
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