XPost: alt.government.abuse, nyc.politics, sac.politics
XPost: talk.politics.guns, alt.society.liberalism

City voters elected Hochul. Enjoy!

Motorists heading into some of Manhattan’s busiest neighborhoods have
begun shelling out a first-in-the-nation $9 congestion toll — a
controversial levy critics contend will drive people out of Gotham and devastate the local economy.

The scheme officially took effect at midnight on Sunday, meaning drivers entering the city below 60th Street will now have to pay $9 during peak
hours — 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends —
and $2.25 for off-peak hours.

During peak hours, large trucks will pay $21.60, small trucks $14.40 and motorcycles $4.50.

One of the first motorists to pay the toll, a man who declined to give his name, seem resigned to pay the price.

“There’s nothing we can do. They already decided, there’s nothing we can
do,” he said, after going through a toll reader near the Lincoln Tunnel.

Another driver, when informed he had just missed the last chance to enter Manhattan congestion-toll-free declared: “Right now ?!” “Ahhhh.”

Earlier on Saturday drivers ripped the plan and trashed Gov. Kathy Hochul, hours before the scheme went into effect.

“We pay a lot of money to live in this formerly wonderful city, that has
taken some hits recently, and I think it’s terrible to be charging people
that pay taxes who live here extra money when they cross 61st St,” said Samantha Popper, a 44-year-old stay-at-home-mom who lives nearby.

“It’s infuriating that in just another day we’ll be charged a hefty toll
just to cross 61st, which is just in my neighborhood,” she added.

Her message to Gov. Kathy Hochul: “work a lot harder” to keep New Yorkers
here and don’t “try to run them out of the city by up-charging them.”

Brian Anderson, a 42-year-old information technology specialist, said he
lived in the city for over a decade but moved to New Jersey five years ago after being clocked in the face and knocked unconscious while reading a
book on the subway.

He said he moved specifically to avoid using mass transit but now realizes
that might no longer be an option financially.

“I’ll probably will be taking NJ Transit more often, and that’s no fun,”
he said.

“Otherwise, it’s gonna cost me $30 to $40 just to get to the other side of
the Hudson.“

Lyft driver Jose Siera ripped the scheme as a “money grab.”

“The tolls are going up also, bridges, they’re raising the prices also.
It’s gonna suck,” he said.

And Uber driver Luigi said “the whole thing is a scam”

“People are not going to be driving their vehicles into the city,” he
said.

“The taxi drivers, the Uber drivers, we are gonna put this cost on them —
so you are punishing them.”

Not everyone opposed paying the price. An Uber driver named Hussain, who
was one of the first motorists to pay the toll near the Lincoln Tunnel
after midnight, told The Post: “I drive an Uber, and I think it will be
good for us so we have less traffic.”

Hochul and the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority raced
against the clock to impose the toll before President-elect Donald Trump
takes office on Jan. 20. He has ripped congestion pricing as the “most regressive tax known to womankind.”

Trump joins the 51% of New Yorkers opposed to the controversial tax, while
29% support it, and another 20% are unsure, according to a Siena College
poll earlier this month.

“This cash grab will only hurt commuters’ wallets and our local economy,
and I’m already hearing from tons of people who say they’ll never go to Manhattan again, which will certainly have an impact on restaurants, the theater and small business,” said Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn).

The MTA claims the tolls are necessary to reduce pollution caused by
gridlock and to raise $15 billion for mass transit upgrades, such as
extending the Second Avenue subway, signal improvements and buying
hundreds of new electric buses.

The agency is providing a $3 credit for passenger cars with EZPass that
enter the toll zone through the Lincoln, Queens-Midtown, Hugh L. Carey or Holland tunnels during peak hours.

Drivers earning less than $50,000 can apply for a 50% discount for all
trips after the first 10 in a calendar month.

The architects hope the plan will push more drivers to use public transit
— but the rollout comes after 10 people were murdered in the subway system
last year.

Opponents such as Susan Lee urged the MTA to first modernize the system
and make it safer.

“I try to only go on the subway during rush hour because it’s not safe,”
said Lee, a Chinatown activist and president of New Yorkers Against
Congestion Pricing Tax.

The $9 “entry fee” would devastate Chinatown and other toll-zone
neighborhoods such as Little Italy and the Lower East Side by driving up delivery costs and making travel too expensive for customers, she warned.

And the scheme has been met with fierce opposition by working-class
commuters — including teachers and cops, firefighters and other first responders — who say they will unfairly have to bear the financial cost of
the added tolls.

https://nypost.com/wp- content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/96150354.jpg?resize=720,480&quality=75&str ip=all

There’s at least 10 pending lawsuits opposing congestion tolling, but
experts have said it’ll be more difficult to put the brakes on it once
it’s up and running.

A federal judge on Friday shot down New Jersey’s emergency request to stop
the new tolling program, and an appellate panel upheld the rejection
Saturday.

The congestion tolls began slamming drivers the same day the Port
Authority also raised prices for its bridges and tunnels.

For most vehicles, the new PA tolls will go up from $15.38 to $16.06
during peak hours, and $18.31 without E-ZPass.

Including congestion tolls, drivers traveling into Manhattan from New
Jersey through the Holland and Lincoln Tunnels will ultimately have to
shell out $22.06 during peak hours and $31.81 if they don’t have E-ZPass.

Hochul abruptly paused the program before it was set to launch in June
with a $15 toll following outcry from House Minority Leader Hakeem
Jeffries (D-NY) and other pols who said it could doom Democratic
candidates in suburban House seats.

She waited until after November’s general election before caving into the demands of car-hating environmental groups and other extremists before
pushing her reduced $9 tolling scheme, which is scheduled to jump to $12
for most vehicles in 2028 and $15 in 2031.

The tolls are the first of their kind in the US, but London and some other cities around the world have rolled out similar programs.

https://nypost.com/2025/01/05/us-news/hochuls-9-nyc-congestion-tolls-set- to-roll-out-jan-5/

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