BY JOSH DAVISNorth Country This Week

OGDENSBURG— The Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority is reporting a continued decline in bridge traffic and revenues due to fewer visitors from and less trade with Canada. 

Meanwhile, Governor Kathy Hochul wants Canadians to know they can “count on places like New York” to collaborate and do business.

Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority officials noted Sept. 13 that bridge revenues continue to fall short of figures projected in the organization’s annual budget. 

OBPA Board Chair Vernon Burns said “we’re now in, as far as I’m concerned, major red territory, and it’s only going to get worse.”

OBPA Executive Director Steven Lawrence said while conditions “have settled” and “haven’t continued to get worse,” there is no movement towards any kind of improvement.

Lawrence projected that the Authority may see the decline continue in the typically busy fall months as a “reduced number” of Canadians travel south for the winter. 

Governor Kathy Hochul discussed diminishing border crossing numbers and their impact on North Country businesses at the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Governors & Premiers Conference held in Quebec City Sunday, Oct. 5. 

She noted that some Canadians feel a sense of “betrayal” amid tariffs and what she describes as hostile rhetoric from the federal government. 

Hochul noted that “it’s had a ripple effect on how people have been behaving,” and said border crossing numbers declined “in a way that is not sustainable” since January and February of the current year, following the inauguration of President Donald J. Trump. 

 “I’m committed as Governor to restoring our previous relationship to, perhaps, January 19,” Hochul said. 

The Governor noted that North Country businesses have suffered as a result of fewer Canadians visiting. 

“People are not coming to the little tourist towns and the ski resorts,” Hochul said, adding, “I feel like there’s kind of a hole in our heart as a state when we don’t have that vibrancy and that friendship that’s long defined us.”

Hochul noted that some relationships have endured the “temporary blip in our relationship,” particularly in the energy sector. She celebrated the fact that business is continuing to be done with Hydro Quebec, saying, “that’s just one project that has not wavered or gone offline because of what is happening and I want to continue looking for those collaborations.”

“When it comes to tourism and trade and fostering energy alliances… we’re going to continue to operate more independently of Washington, so I want to get that message out to your businesses who are trying to decide, ‘do we make that investment or not?’”