Mr. Cuomo revived the idea of congestion pricing in 2017 after the subway descended into crisis and it became clear that a new revenue source was needed. But supporters of the proposal say Mr. Cuomo did not push hard enough last year to convince lawmakers to support the idea.

Mr. Cuomo’s comments on Thursday suggest that he is serious about winning approval for the proposal this year and wants to frame congestion pricing as the best choice among many difficult options. But Mr. Cuomo also slammed the transportation authority, calling it a “disgrace” and a “governmental Frankenstein.”

Mr. Cuomo says he wants more control over the system, though he already has near total control of the transit agency. Still, Mr. Cuomo urged lawmakers to approve rules to improve the agency, including reorganizing the board to “put someone in charge” and to start a “forensic audit” to determine reasonable costs for its capital plan.

The authority has said it could need as much as $60 billion for its next five-year capital program — a staggering figure that is nearly double the cost of its current capital plan. That includes about $19 billion for Andy Byford’s “Fast Forward” plan to modernize the subway.

Mr. Cuomo’s speech had a silly tone at times — perhaps an attempt to grab attention for admittedly dry topics like railroad procurements. It featured a peculiar slide show suggesting that Arnold Schwarzenegger, as the “Terminator,” might save the subway, or that Chris Christie, driving a yellow hummer SUV, should pay higher tolls to enter from New Jersey.

Democratic leaders in the Senate and the Assembly said they were considering congestion pricing, but did not enthusiastically endorse it.

“Senate Democrats are prioritizing the need to fix the crumbling M.T.A. with dedicated revenues implemented in a fair manner,” said Mike Murphy, a spokesman for Senate Democrats. “We will discuss congestion pricing and other M.T.A. solutions as a conference and move aggressively toward a solution.”