New York City is one step closer to enacting its radical plan to charge motorists for simply entering Manhattan’s Central Business District at 60th Street and below on weekdays and weekends.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board overwhelmingly voted 9-to-1 to approve the measure on Wednesday, kicking off a four-month public comment period.
Under the plan, commuters will have to pay hefty fees to enter: $15 for cars, $7.50 for motorcycles, and between $24 and $36 for trucks, depending on size. Taxis face a surcharge of $1.25 per ride, while the surcharge for other ride-share services will be $2.50.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul celebrated the board’s approval.
"Congestion pricing means cleaner air, better transit and less gridlock on New York City's streets and today's vote by the MTA Board is a critical step forward," Hochul said in a statement. "The proposal approved today heeds my call to lower the toll rate by nearly 35 percent from the maximum rate originally considered."
If the plan is implemented, it would be the first city in America to have such a program.
Critics are blasting the plan.
This is insane pic.twitter.com/kM3ATLtoc0
— Clown World ™ 🤡 (@ClownWorld_) December 6, 2023
More money for the @MTA to waste. It should not cost two tolls $17 + $15 to enter lower manhattan. The right to travel is part of the 'liberty' of which citizens cannot be deprived under the Fifth Amendment. The American Revolution was fought for less taxes than today’s implement https://t.co/ZIhJnHcwEp
— Bao Ngo (@bngo91) December 7, 2023
While NYers struggle to make ends meet, Kathy Hochul is celebrating herself for creating a new tax that will cause more truck traffic in the Bronx and on Staten Island, and more cars on small side streets in Queens and Brooklyn. https://t.co/FGZ7nz8EzC
— Lee Zeldin (@leezeldin) December 5, 2023
It means the death of more small businesses below 60th street.
— AuthoritarianPigs (@TacticHack) December 5, 2023
Governor Hochul is so hopelessly out-of-touch with regular New Yorkers that she's celebrating a new multi-thousand dollar a year tax on suburban commuters. What an absolute joke! https://t.co/JuWS11OAWm
— Mike Lawler (@lawler4ny) December 5, 2023
Be honest, Tyrant @GovKathyHochul: Congestion pricing is yet another tax on New Yorkers, & its aim is to punish the working class, forcing them to give up their cars & rely on NY's crumbling public transportation infrastructure. Repeat after us, folks: "Taxation Is Theft." https://t.co/VB1JHfMYXs
— Libertarian Party of New York (@lpnyofficial) December 5, 2023
Despite the vote, the plan still faces legal challenges from the Murphy administration and Bergen County, New Jersey, residents.
"It’s ripping off New Jersey commuters to pay for whatever financial hardships the MTA is facing. We’re considering all of our options, including further legal action," said New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy.
Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella has also said he plans to file a lawsuit to stop the plan.
"The recently-reported $15 toll to enter Manhattan below 60th St is nothing short of complete highway robbery for the people of Staten Island. This could be one of the worst things to ever happen to Staten Island," said Fossella over the summer. "We have said time and time again that all Staten Islanders, especially those who live near the Staten Island Expressway, will have to suffer with more air pollution and more traffic, not to mention this added tax to travel within their own city. For all this, Staten Islanders will see no return on the investment they’ll have no say in making."