Manhattan’s Pointless New Tolls

‘Congestion pricing’ is supposed to ease traffic and raise enough funds to fix the subways, but it’s becoming increasingly clear: It’ll do neither.

Take, for example, Gov. Cuomo’s announcement Wednesday that he and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy will set up cashless tolls on the Hudson River crossings. That’ll pave the way for discounts, i.e., less cash for MTA subway fixes and fewer motorists deterred from driving.

Or take Assemblyman Jeff Dinowitz’s tweet that he was promised “a full rebate for the Henry Hudson Bridge toll for all Bronx residents” in exchange for his congestion-pricing vote. Again, that’s less toll revenue for the MTA and fewer drivers looking to avoid Manhattan streets.

In Jersey, pols threaten to cut federal funds to New York if the Garden State isn’t

treated well. They want toll money to go to NJ Transit and the PATH. Yet under the deal Albany struck, 20 percent already will go to the LIRR and MetroNorth.

And the list of special-pleaders seeking exemptions is never-ending: the Police Benevolent Association, taxi drivers, truckers, commuters from the outer boroughs . . .

Any new exemptions would be on top of those already baked into the plan — for drivers on the West Side Highway and FDR, emergency vehicles and the disabled, for instance. Residents below 60th Street who make less than $60,000 also get a tax credit.

Wednesday, Cuomo said the MTA still has to work out tolling rates, to ensure fairness and efficient traffic patterns. You can be sure those with the least political pull will suffer most. Even as the streets remain clogged and the subway broke. And broken.