The law in question is a New York State law, not a NYC one. The state is much less politically homogeneous than the city is, and Hochul's (tepid) argument for suspending the law is in part based on this political dynamic.

(The entire situation is a pathetically self-inflicted one: the MTA is a state entity instead of a city one, meaning that the city's single most important mode of transportation is perpetually shackled to the state's political slapfights.)