Rockaway and Broad Channel motorists are planning two large-scale protests this week to dissuade the MTA from abolishing toll rebates for the Cross Bay Bridge.Queens Borough President Helen Marshall and other local leaders plan to demonstrate Monday near the toll plaza, and six busloads of residents are slated to pack Wednesday's MTA meeting in Manhattan.
The MTA is facing a budget crisis and hopes to save $3.6 million a year by rescinding the rebate.
Rockaway peninsula and Broad Channel drivers with E-ZPasses are charged $1.03 every time they cross the bridge, and the fee is remitted back to them in a rebate.
The program was instituted in 1998 after decades of protests.
Broad Channel shares a post office, police precinct and firehouse with the peninsula. Many Broad Channel residents also send their kids to school in the Rockaways. For Rockaway commuters, the bridge is the only connection to mainland Queens.
Drivers, pols gear up to fight for bridge toll break
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"Putting a toll on this bridge is the equivalent of putting a toll in the middle of Queens Blvd.," said Assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer, who met with local civic leaders last week about the issue. "This is the only intraborough toll in the city."
Interesting point, I never viewed it that way. Anyway, good for the people who plan on protesting rescinding the rebate. Hope they can actually make a difference.
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