Driven to ‘congest tax’ rage
Manhattanites divided
Congestion pricing was made law with a promise to reduce Manhattan traffic, improve air quality and boost revenue for the subway system — but critics say the coming congestion “tax” threatens to further divide Manhattan between haves and have-nots and make the borough even more unlivable and inaccessible for middle- and lowincome people.
“This is the most insane plan ever,” said Maryssa Miller, a single working mother from Kips Bay who could be forced to pay up to $5,000 per year to go “to and from my home.”
Miller formed the Facebook group NYC Families and Residents Against Congestion Pricing to amplify the voice of congestion-tax opponents, and quickly shot past 300 members.
“Getting to the doctor(s) will cost me a fortune,” lamented group member Bobby Frank Kolin, who is disabled. “I already pay the highest parking tax in the country. I work one day a week in Brooklyn and cannot get there with public transportation.”
Made law in 2019, congestion pricing is supposed to raise $1 billion per year for public transportation by charging a toll to drive below 60th Street in Manhattan — $11.50 for cars during rush hour, $5.50 to $8.50 during other hours, according to rates proposed by a 2018 Cuomo administration study.
FDR Drive, West Side Highway, Battery Park Underpass and surface roadway portions of the Hugh Carey Tunnel connecting to West Street are exempt from the toll area. The congestion tax will be piled on top of fees commuters already pay to use bridges and tunnels, such as the $16 per auto New Jersey residents cough up at the Holland and Lincoln tunnels.
New Jersey residents are looking at nearly $30 a day just to drive into the city for work or to see family. “It seems ludicrous to add an additional tax for someone driving (and parking) to see their grandkids and go to doctors’ appointments,” Manhattan resident Susan Rachel, whose mother lives in New Jersey, wrote on Facebook.
The “congestion zone” will be enforced by mounted cameras, said State Sen. Brad Hoylman (D-Manhattan), whose district “is largely subsumed” by the congestion zone but nevertheless supports the plan. He called it “crucial to the future of New York City,” because of environmental, safety and economic benefits.
“I don’t want to pay a goddamn tax just to go home,” said Michael Gross (pictured), author of books such as “Model” and “740 Park,” who lives in Midtown East.