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The Latest: Congestion pricing clears another hurdle
The path towards congestion pricing for Downtown — and anything south of 60th Street — has crossed its federal permissions hurdle, which means that tolling could begin as soon as next April. (The wonky version, feel free to skip to next paragraph: the Federal Highway Administration studied the MTA’s Final Environmental Assessment and issued a determination of a “Finding of No Significant Impact” and concluded that the project sponsors, state DOT, city DOT and the MTA, may advance to the administration’s Value Pricing Pilot Program, which allows them to manage congestion through tolling.)
I read through the entire environmental assessment and for that I want a pat on the back from someone, somewhere. But until then here’s what I learned, with the implications for Lower Manhattan residents explained more fully below:
- NYC is the most congested city in the country
- 7,665,000 people enter and exit the Manhattan Central Business District (south of 60th) on an average weekday
- 1,856,000 of them (24 percent) enter and exit by vehicle EACH DAY
- At the peak hour, 6a, 45,000 cars enter the district EACH DAY
This translates to more vehicles entering and exiting the Manhattan CBD each day than the entire population of Phoenix. So that’s how we got here.
I am only going to look at this from here on in through the lens of the Tribeca resident, and not address pricing since that is still a moving target. In the six tolling scenarios, there are options for exemptions or caps (the number of times you get charged each day) for taxis, busses and trucks — all of which simply drive up the cost of the toll. While not much about this is simple, that part is easy to grasp. So here goes:
HOW MUCH WILL IT COST FOR US?
The fee scale has not been set yet, but for these purposes I am going with the analysis that Tribecan and transportation expert Charles Komanoff came up with: $15 at peak times, $10 as traffic begins to thicken and $5 at off-peak times.
Noncommercial passenger vehicles entering the CBD would be tolled once per day. There would be exemptions for transporting a person with disabilities. Toll rates for different types of vehicles, like delivery trucks, are different than the toll rates for noncommercial passenger vehicles.
Vehicles that travel to locations on the west side of the West Side Highway/Route 9A (e.g., Battery Park City or Hudson River Park) will get tolled.
HOW WILL IT BE COLLECTED?
Via EZ-Pass, through electronic detection points mounted at entrances and exits to the tolling zone. On avenues, the equipment will generally be placed between 60th and 61st Streets. The MTA estimates that it will install 120 detection points in all — 85 on traffic poles and 35 on structures like bridges and overhead signs. In some locations, new poles would be installed where no poles currently exist.
Devices will also be mounted at the exits from and entrances to all East River bridges (Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge,
Williamsburg Bridge, Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, other than the ramp to 62nd Street) and tunnels (the Holland and Lincoln Tunnels).
Drivers who do not have E-ZPass will get bills in the mail, as we do now if you get caught by the cameras on the highway.
WILL THE PRICE OF GOODS GO UP?
This question was part of the analysis that the MTA had to answer for the feds. The conclusion was that tolling was unlikely to result in meaningful change in cost for most consumer goods, since it would be distributed among many customers per toll charge. This included small businesses and micro-businesses, receiving smaller deliveries, since most delivery vehicles are making deliveries to multiple cusotmers per toll charge. However some commodity sectors (construction materials, electronics, beverages) are more prone to increases due to less competition within the delivery market.
WHAT WILL *NOT* BE TOLLED?
Travel on the FDR Drive and the West Side Highway/Route 9A, the Battery Park Underpass and any surface roadway portion of the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel that connects to West Street will NOT be tolled. Verification points along the West Side Highway/Route 9A and FDR Drive would be used to ensure that vehicles that remain on these roadways without entering the Manhattan CBD do not pay a toll.
SOME SCENARIOS & CLARIFICATIONS with answers from the MTA in itals. NB: they use the term remaining in a way that I would use “leaving.” I don’t know why, but keep that in mind. Also, in addition to tolling devices along the highways, there will be “detection zones,” which are in the areas outlined on the map below.
WILL I BE TOLLED FOR KEEPING A CAR IN THE CITY?
No. You are only tolled when you enter or leave the CBD.
If a passenger vehicle is parked all week within the Manhattan CBD (for example, a vehicle owned by a resident of the Manhattan CBD) and then leaves the Manhattan CBD on Friday and returns on Monday, the vehicle would be identified as having remained on Friday since it was detected leaving; it would be identified as entering when it returns on Monday. It would receive a charge on Friday for remaining and on Monday for entering the Manhattan CBD. It would not be charged any other days when parked the entire day in the Manhattan CBD, nor the days when away.
WILL I BE TOLLED FOR DRIVING AROUND THE CBD?
No, as long as you don’t cross a check point at the perimeter OR drive through a “detection zone” shown in the map above.
If a vehicle parked on the street within the Manhattan CBD is moved to the other side of the street for alternate-side-of-the-street parking regulations, it would not be charged for entering or remaining in the Manhattan CBD so long as it does not leave the CBD when circling the block or cross one of the detection zones when crossing the street.
What if…
you drive your kid to Avenues every morning at 8a, all within the CBD?
Not clear, even after several questions and multiple reads of multiple docs. For sure you might get trapped in the Holland Tunnel “detection zone” if you drive up Hudson. You certainly will if you drive up the highway, so it might take some finagling to get there and back without triggering a toll.
you drive from Tribeca to Chelsea Piers, and cross the highway at 24th Street?
Not clear. There is all sorts of language about where the tolling devices will be, but it is not specific enough at this point to know for sure.
you park at Pier 40, which is west of Route 9A and not in the grid?
Yes, you will get tolled. The tolling devices will charge anyone leaving the highways, even if they are going west off West Street (Hudson River Park or Battery Park City) or east off the FDR drive (Waterside).
you take a taxi from Tribeca to Grand Central, all within the CBD?
No, though watch out for the “detection zones.” No doubt taxi drivers will become experts.
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Can you clarify where you read that “the tolling devices will charge anyone leaving the highways, even if they are going west off West Street (Hudson River Park or Battery Park City) or east off the FDR drive (Waterside)”? For example it does not look consistent with the “detection points” that do not cover all the entries to BPC accirding to the map.
Overall this is quite frustrating that the report is so vague on such important questions. Thank you for trying to make sense of all that!
The best I can do is to say the intent is to toll people going to BPC. How they do it is still unclear.
And they wonder why NY is hemorrhaging people. Overt attempt at behavior modification, since obviously the government knows better. If this is really about congestion pricing, why is there a charge at all off-peak?
Very good news!
How is this positive ??
This complete screws any resident of NYC and anyone who may have reverse commute and depends on the ability to dive to earn a living..
The rich won’t care as they are rich and have money to pay. The working person is going to get completely hosed by this back door tax. They should exempt Manhattan residents from this rediculos tax that make it impossible to live in NYC.
This is going to be so much fun to watch.
In the building where I work, the cleaning ladies (working for a contracted company) come in at around 5:30 and work late.
Some of them carpool (or get picked up at the end of the shift) as getting home at night is a long commute and there are safety concerns taking the subway late at night.
Most of them are immigrants and cleaning offices is a second job.
But OK for them to pay more while the affluent enjoy Amazon delivery and dining out at Odeon….
Right?
My NYC residence is W 43rd and 10th, immediately outside the Lincoln tunnel. I have a weekend property outside the city. So, I will be charged when I enter and then a second time when I leave the tunnel?
You will be charged when you leave the city on Friday and when you return on Sunday.
I work at 59th and 12th ave (on the pier) i travel south on the HH parkway, i make the U turn at 56th and travel north on 12th ave to 59th, i make the left under the hiway and park on the pier. Will I.be changed?
I believe so, yes, you will go through a detection point when you make the left at 56th off the highway.
So how does this relieve congestion? Ot doesn’t. It evidence of the money grab. Get motorists to pay for subways.
Similar to the speed camera program during school hours. Now 24/7/365. How about just raise the fair? I once loved NYC. No more.
So let me understand this as a local resident
1. I live in Tribeca and pay property taxes on top of a local income tax
2. I pay taxes on the car that I bought and inspection and registration costs annually
3. I park my car and pay a parking tax
4. I now have to pay to actually use my car any time I drive it unless its in a small area and I somehow don’t come across one of these cameras
Why are local residents being forced to be apart of this if its supposed to discourage people from driving into the zone we live in.
Also, it appears there will be additional fees for taxi and Uber.
So a resident who is sick or disabled who needs to transit to/from the zone line using a taxi or Uber (let’s say, resident on East 55th Street going to/from Sloan-Kettering) will pay more.
Or an elderly resident living on West 66th Street who needs a taxi to from Mt.Sinai/Roosevelt a few blocks away will pay more.
In the meantime, City DOT thinks it is OK to deprive people of bus service as it closed bus route streets for “Open Streets”
Demographic cleansing
Precisely. New York is already seeing the black and brown communities pushed out in droves. The middle class white community is right behind them. New York will be nothing but the mega rich who will somehow bring their maids and workmen from somewhere far outside the city. And even the poor living in public housing will be gone as Administrations like this one make plans to privatize “public” housing. Nothing is “public” anymore. We can’t even afford to drive on the streets! And walking on them is none too easy either with food App delivery men on e-vehicles all over the sidewalks. Why don’t we just admit we have no government anymore making policies for the people. They’ve all been sucked under by corporate capture.
Apply for the Manhattan Resident Parking Tax Exemption that’s available on the NYC Dept of Finance portal.
Yet another Money grab by the MTA – Noting that obviously if the intent was simply to reduce commuters coming into and out of the city on a daily basis, this could be easily accomplished by raising tolls going in and out of the city. Make every bridge and tunnel a two way toll and you will eliminate a lot of local disasters – like the FREE Holland Tunnel outbound calamity we see every single day… with people driving all the way down just to go home to NJ for free. But what the city really wants to do is to make up for all that lost MTA revenue, due to loss of commuters coming to their workplaces after post covid work at home started. My big issue?? They’ve expanded what were the clearly designated the Midtown, Lower Midtown and Downtown to now include EVERYTHING south of 60th street. So in effect you will be paying just to use your car, even if you’re not really into these busier commercial districts… For the city it’s just treating Tribeca residents like shooting fish in a barrel. Charge just for going into the business districts and make this fair… It is money grab policies such as these which make those of us still living in NYC scratch our heads and wonder if it makes sense anymore.
Lawsuits are coming. As air quality will worsen in underserved/EJ areas, many lower-income communities (many of color) outside the CBD are getting nothing in return AND/OR priced out of Manhattan, and those with disabilities will have a harder time getting around due to increased traffic and overcrowding on mass transit, this plan violates the ADA and the Civil Rights Act (Title VI).
Local residents should be exempt. Battery Park City Residents are particularly vulnerable since they have to pay to leave their neighborhood. For example, if they need to drive to the emergency room on Gold St., they will have to pay the toll. Assembly Member Charles Fall (Assembly District 61 – Battery Park City & Northern Staten Island) has proposed legislation to exempt residents. Reach out to your state senator and urge him to do the same in the Senate.
Considering the obvious vagueness of the report how in the hell could this be seriously approved? A possibility is former Dept of Transportation Alternatives commissioner Polly Trottenberg role at the US DOT(A) who was there messing up the streets for the last worst mayor in NYC history De Blasio, who was also entirely agency captured by TA and their deranged elitist guru Charles Komanoff, who fancies himself as the new Robert Moses on 2 wheels.
This is also going to lead to more congestion by the rivers (where public housing and parks are) and more unenforceable criminal mischief too (it’s still going despite obnoxious viral videos by the other bike zealot lobby cult, Open Plans streetblog)
For the complainers… You wanted to “tax the rich,” well you got it!
We are at a point where it’s time to prioritize and properly fund public transit.
In Tribeca I see cars priced north of 50k parked on the street. I think its ok to charge a toll to allocate the true cost of transit. And use of public space.
People will complain. But if you move cause you drive then you’re taking your traffic to the next location.
Why are Manhattan residents going to be charged to go to and from their homes? We have the right just like every other NYC resident to own a car and not be subjected to pay a fee to drive it home. I hope there will be a class action suit to oppose this biased money grab that will only hurt the middle class residents of the city who should be exempt from this fee.
If you live in Manhattan below 60th street and have a car you’re not middle class.
we are not all rich that live below 60th street and own a car. Do your homework
With all due respect, “rich” is a relative term. Just objectively speaking, if one has a car in Manhattan, between payment for the car itself, maintenance and repairs, insurance, and parking, one is already talking about roughly half the U.S. median annual income, even if the vehicle isn’t driven one foot. By many measures if one can afford to dispose of that income simply to claim ownership of a thing… Well, that is not, not rich.
That’s just a totally uninformed comment.
Yes, but it’s not only the rich being taxed. What about all of us who take Ubers or taxis, because it’s too dangerous to take public transportation?
There are many quality of life improvements that I want to remind folks of, that have not been getting a mention.
A great benefit to local residents will be air quality improvement from reduced traffic, especially idling from diesel delivery and trash trucks. The particulate matter (PM) that comes from traffic is measurable and extremely harmful to residents, especially the young, elderly and those with health issues. Just because you cannot always see the traffic air pollution in the same way that you can with wildfire smoke, it is still dangerous.
It will also reduce noise from traffic (honking, etc.) and improve pedestrian and cyclist safety if traffic can be reduced. These are all tangible benefits for residents or workers in the CBD of all income levels.
Deep Breath:
Actually high-rise buildings are massive contributors to climate change and somehow no one cares about that right?
Not to mention that big real estate runs NYC.
As a pedestrian and bus/subway rider it is bicycles that pose a daily danger to me.
Safety for pedestrians is not more bicycles.
As for reducing vehicles – let’s start with a big tax on ecommerce and getting rid of Uber.
I have a hotel across the street
It’s impossible to get legal parking on Greenwich because of double parked SUVs waiting for a ride
I counted 8 in 1/2 a block the other day. That’s same block is designated for livery cars.
Why has no one pointed out that most of the traffic in Manhattan are Ubers?
Check the license plates on all the cars driving around they all have a T.
I think we were much better off when we had taxis that had to purchase a medallion. It kept things in check. Now it’s a free-for-all if you have a car and you need extra money come on in.
NYC residents should be exempt. As residents we now pay more in taxes than any other part of the country. This is double dipping -and cruel and unusual punishment!
I guess we don’t yet know all the details, but most reports are consistent in saying that there’s a toll for driving from the congestion zone on to the FDR or the West Side Highway and vice versa. And that residents of the zone are not exempt. Assuming that’s correct, won’t that increase rather than decrease traffic within the congestion zone? For example, if you live and keep a car in Tribeca (or any other area in the zone) and need to get up to Columbia Presbyterian, for example, won’t you be incentivized to use local streets rather than the WSH to avoid the tolls? How does that reduce congestion?
Assuming that the goal is to reduce congestion, then what behavior is supposed to be influenced by this? Is someone who comes into the city to go to a museum from LI or NJ once in a while really likely to take a bus or train just to save $30? They’d probably need to take a cab from the train or bus station anyway to get to their destination, right? So what congestion is being reduced?
If this is really just a way to raise $$ for the subway system, then I’m sure there are more rational ways to do that, no? Like putting tolls on the bridges that are not currently tolled? Or increasing the NYS subsidy?
If you are driving north and crossing 60th Street from inside the CBD then you will get tolled whether you are on the highways or local streets.
Take the A or the 1 to Columbia Pres. Much faster than driving. I do it all the time.
Do you really think people use cars because of how long it takes to get somewhere? What about older people or people with health problems or those who can’t climb subway stairs? they need to take a car to get to doctor appointments and hospitals, etc. Have some empathy and don’t imagine that everybody is just like you.
soon everyone will move out. Between the crime, the dirty unsafe streets. Now this. Very sad. New York is in a very bad place
What about a lower incomed senior who happens to have an old car and drives in on occasion Public transportation is not a physical option…..so physically disabled, a disability parking permit is possessed. Accessoride cannot be used because I have to stand outside allowing 30 minutes (and ofttimes more) for pick up. So now the least abled bodied of us must be punished for being old, disabled and poor.
Riders with disabilities and people who make under $60K are exempt.
That’s not correct that riders with disabilities are exempt because people can be disabled from health problems (for example, if one has cancer or some disease that’s not permanent) but not be able to get disability, or to be considered disabled. I couldn’t walk for a year because of a foot and ankle problem & thus couldn’t take the subway or the bus but I could not get anything official that said I was disabled.
Let me throw my hat in the ring with the complainers, but my ire’s focused on the Uber-effect. This concept was sold to us as a way of reducing congestion. My bet is that if we separated out the stats a bit, we’d find that this is the chief culprit of the crowded streets we’re experiencing in Manhattan south of 60th street.
This is going to be a disaster. The vague rules and circumstances will cause even more confusion. Someone moving their car for alt side of the street parking wont be tolled as long as they dont circle the wrong block and leave/re-enter congestion zone? And it seems we will be tolled for LEAVING the congestion zone? how is that congestion pricing if you are charged to leave? This is nothing short of a money grab. Also nobody seems to want to acknowledge the amount of traffic this will put on the outer boroughs. All Mainland to Queens/LI traffic will now be GWB>Crossbronx to avoid the toll, which is already the worst section of highway in the country. The BQE will be worse, the Gowanus will be worse, the LIE/Grand Central will be worse. And NYC seems to think that people in cabs and ubers are going to pay this? If I’m in a cab headed downtown i’m getting out on 61st st, walking 2 blocks and getting another cab. There will now be an absolute parking lot of cabs and ubers at the border of the congestion zone. It may work for european cities but it will not work here.
I won’t go into my whole rant on this topic but as a 20+ year Manhattanite add me to the list of “complainers”. I am not pleased that this is being pushed through
So as a BPC resident, I would even be tolled to LEAVE Manhattan in the 60 seconds of drive time from my apartment to the Battery tunnel?! Those two detection points make it impossible to find an alternative way in or out of BPC, a neighborhood that already suffers from higher than average taxes/maintenance just to LIVE there. Resident exemption should not be income based. London has an application process for ALL residents to be exempt 90% or more.
Two Scenarios……
1. So if I take the 59st Lower Level and take that quick right exit onto 1st Ave then make that right onto the street going towards FDR will I be charged?
2. Coming south on FDR and getting off at 59st Bridge exit then going to 2nd Ave making a left then another left onto 59st Bridge will I be charged for this also?
Similar to the question above mine…
There’s supposedly no charge to exit the QB Bridge on the lower level at 62nd Street, but there will still be a toll to take the QB bridge to Queens from any Manhattan street? That means that the Bronx is now the only borough where residents can enter any portion of Manhattan without being tolled. Any plans for tolling the Roosevelt Island bridge? Half the island is below 60th St.
So how will it work if I am using the 59th street Queensboro bridge to innthe am to go uptown and in the pm I take the 59th street bridge back to queens? I’m not going into downtown, but I do have to pass 60th street to get onto the bridge.
I am pretty certain you will not be tolled.
I frequently park at the MPG garage at 42nd and 10th. Based upon what I’m reading, looks like there will be a toll as I exit on to 42nd street from the Henry Hudson. Does this assumption seem correct?
Yes.
Quick question, I live in upper Manhattan and take the 59th street bridge to queens, will I be charged?
Not if you come down the FDR Drive to get to the bridge.
We are residents in 64th Street and 1st Avenue. If we drive cross the East River by Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge (also known as the 59th Street Bridge) to borough of Queens or back, will we be charged the congestion tolls?
I am not sure, but I don’t think so — the CBD starts at 60th.
Crossing the Ed Koch in both directions and not going downtown should definitely be excluded from tolling. It is currently the only route that doesn’t involve tolls for uptown areas.
Need clarification on this. Anyone seen exactly where the cameras are being located
I have another update I just came off the Ed Koch bridge coming into Manhattan and I’m going uptown I go on york ave north bound about to hop on the FDR north bound and they got toll cameras set up on both sides of the road the lanes going southbound below 61st and the lanes going uptown as well ?? So how is this “congestion pricing “ and what’s the way around coming from queens and strictly going uptown ???
It has come to my attention after years of fraud against the people this fact of law according to Supreme Court of the United States (aka SCOTUS).
Driver is defined as: “One employed” see Wallace v. Woods, 340 Mo. 452, 102 S.W. 2d 91, 92; and Davis v. Petrinovich, 112 Ala. 654, 21 South.
Employed is defined as: “This signifies both the act of doing a thing and the being under contract or orders to do it.”; See State v. Birmingham Beauty Shop, Ala., 198 So. 435, 436 and U. S. v. Morris, 14 Pet. 475, 10 L. Ed.
So if you are not by definition “employed” then you are not legally a “driver” and therefore not obligated to even have license plates, registration, inspection stickers, nor insurance.
Also see the letters of Wayne H. Stump dated September 10, 1985 and notarized on January 14, 2004.
So remove, hide or obstruct your plates knowing that the Supreme Court has already made their decision and no rule, regulation or cryptic code can diminish your right to travel. The truth is your path to freedom. Those tolls only apply in acts of commerce under a contract while engaged in the act. For example, taxis, trucking, busses and other for hire vehicles and commercially plated vehicles. NOT us average people exercising our rights to travel. Any takers on these facts, remember anything you say will be deemed at challenging the Supreme Court and not me personally and individually.
This penalizes the people who pay the most. I have to travel to work off hours, which is dangerous, so I drive in. I also work uptown – north of 61th street and take the 59th Street bridge. Why should I pay to go over if I’m not going to midtown?? There are so many other reasons why this is wrong (including the MTA mismanaging their funds for decades). What about the other boroughs? No congestion there? Ever been on the LIE through Queens at noon?? Are they kidding? This entire tri state area is congested. Maybe stop the 70,000 ubers all over the place! They say they are worried about emissions – what about the trucks that idle all the time – anyone ever breathe that air?? This will make me find a way to retire very soon and keep my money in my own CONGESTED area! Very unfair to make the average worker pay for their legal thievery.
I live on Perry Street between Washington & West, and park on the street. So if I go around the block, which involves going onto West Side highway and back onto Perry… I’ll get charged? Or does this entrance & exiting of the highway not count because I’m remaining below 60th for all of it?
The latter is correct.
Hi, this is the salient question to me. If I live in Tribeca and get on the WSH at Chambers and then take a right on Hubert will I be charged? I assume the same would apply if I get on the FDR and exit at 34th St? Thank you!
No, you will not be tolled. You are staying within the CBD and the highways are exempt. Keep in mind that the toll readers will read you as you get on the highway, but if you don’t then cross north of 60th, you will not get tolled. ALSO, you do not get tolled for leaving the CBD, only for entering.
I agree 100%
I do a reverse commute to NJ everyday and pay avg $330 per month. Why are we accepting this like is just business as usual? Why do New York drivers keep taking in on the chin with all these absurd tolls? Remember to vote the bums out comes election time.
The people that will be affected by this is the middle class and the poor. Clean air my a$$. The super rich and ultra rich got tired of seeing us around, like roaches, driving around their neighborhoods. If you are poor and live in the city, well, good luck to you because all your services’ costs will go up. Nobody see Mike Bloomberg and friends complaining about this. Why? Because they are ultra-rich. If this was congestion pricing why don’t they bring the $15 dollars cost from $15 to $5 right after 11 AM? You are telling me that it is congested all the way from 7 AM to 12 PM in Manhattan, everyday? No way!!!
Great info. Thank you! I live on York, but have family on LI. I have an E-Z Pass and use the upper level of the 59th St. bridge both directions. But I’m confused about new tolling. I usually enter the upper level from 57th or 58th St. going east. Will I pay a toll? Is there another entrance?
I exit at 61st St. and turn right straight over to York. I hope and expect not to pay a toll. Am I missing something? Thanks again.
Keep in mind you are only tolled for ENTERING, not for leaving, the CBD. I will ask for clarification on whether you will be tolled as you come off the 59th Street Bridge and head north, since at that point you are practically on 60th…
I live uptown.How do I get to the 59th street Bridge lower level without getting charged? There are cameras on 2nd Ave between 60 and 61st the approach to the bridge.
Using the Queensboro Bridge I enter Manhattan but turn right at the first exit off the bridge and head uptown into the 70’s, I do not trigger a toll since I am above 60th Street.
But then, on the return trip down 2nd Avenue to the Queensboro bridge, I pass a toll just feet before turning left onto the bridge. I am in the “zone” for less than 100 feet.. It is a very close call, do I get tolled? I mean, I am not even driving into the area, I’m turning left onto the bridge and getting out of the area. To be charged here would be patently unfair!
Can anyone confirm what the story is at the Queensboro bridge? Thank you.
As someone who has worked in Manhattan since 1977(Driving Truck for Ceiling Sub Contractor delivering material), Traffic existed then, Crosstown/FDR/West Side Highway/1st Ave/2nd Ave/10th Ave, etc,,,,,, Traffic in NYC has always existed, and how many millions of people survived & prospered??!!
Worked in Financial Industry from 1983-2019…..Currently, living/owning in Battery Park City since 1988, so I believe I do have legit perspective….. My wife & I still live in BPC, and now I reverse commute to Long Island 7 days a week since 3/17/20. as I run my Family’s Restaurant Business(established in 1966, my Father passed in 2016)….. I leave BPC around 10am & return approx 10:30pm….. With this “Congestion Pricing Boondoggle” looming, it feels like I will have to travel over The Tri-Boro Bridge to get on the FDR South without having to drive on a street, such as using 59th St Bridge/Midtown Tunnel/Williamsburg/Manhattan/Brooklyn Bridge will have to enter a street….. Drive all the way South to Battery Underpass, instead of exiting at Exit 1, and driving coming around the horn on Battery Place & entering BPC from the South Side like I do every single day, have to either make right @ Rector/Right on Broadway & come around the horn, or drive north on West(not yet triggering a congestion charge) & then make a left on Liberty(triggering a congestion charge)…….
This is WRONG for RESIDENTS!!… In my case, Long Time Resident(36yrs of experiencing the worst of NYC, the best of NYC, and now the worst of NYC again, but on steroids since Covid to crush people! And allow the MTA to steal & spend more $$$!
If anyone can suggest/clarify what route I should utilize, greatly appreciated!
Hopefully, this boondoggle gets held up in the courts!!!
HELP!!!
What about garages on 60th? I park on 60th and 1st and leave via FDR and come back 59th str with exit onto 60th street. Seems this will trigger every time?
60th is within the zone. You will get charged only coming in, and only once a day.