Save the subways
Millions enter Manhattan each day heading to work, making it the center of the biggest economic engine in America. The wealth generated sustains the people of the city and the region while pumping billions into government coffers from City Hall to Albany to Washington.
Those millions, whether they live on the narrow island or commute there from the boroughs or suburbs, cannot get from point A to B to C on the clogged roads, even if they are willing to pay for costly parking.
The subways are the only way, and the system is now on its knees with breakdowns and delays.
Manhattan needs congestion pricing — as smartly conceived by Gov. Cuomo’s Fix NYC panel, a fee on private vehicles below 60th St., and taxis and Ubers and liveries below 96th St., with all funds plowed into the subways and buses.
Save the trains and unchoke the roads: Two problems solved by having drivers chip in.
The members of the state Assembly from Manhattan should be united behind this urgent cause. The bare-minimum first steps are installing E-ZPass readers and cameras and start collecting a uniform surcharge on each taxi and Uber fare.
Between now and Thursday’s state budget deadline, they must stand up and be counted.
East Harlem’s Robert Rodriguez, the prime sponsor of Assembly legislation, has been championing congestion pricing for years. On his side are Linda Rosenthal, Carmen De La Rosa, Dan Quart, Dick Gottfried and Rebecca Seawright. All must stay firm, and try to win converts.
Danny O’Donnell agrees with the congestion pricing concept, but wants an environmental review and breaks for non-profits and people with disabilities.
Yuh-Line Niou supports the idea, although with asterisks large enough to weasel out.
Deborah Glick says that she is undecided; she shouldn’t be. Her Greenwich Village district is crowded with overloaded subway stations and snarled by traffic. Her constituents need relief.
Finally, Inez Dickens and Al Taylor aren’t publicly saying what they think. Their uptown districts, far from the fee zone and, with few who drive to Midtown, would gain greatly.
Get on the train.