Senator Comrie wants everyone to pay the austerity congestion tax

The legislator who oversees the MTA’s committee is warning the authority not to allow any more exemptions to Manhattan’s planned congestion tolls — or else risk losing potential revenue needed for the transit system.

State Sen. Leroy Comrie said during a hearing on Wednesday that proposed exemptions for city residents, government employees or suburban drivers “upset the entire point of congestion pricing.”

“I don’t think there should be any exemptions, and I’m going to continue to say that there should be no exemptions,” Comrie said, after senators from north of New York City called for discounts for their constituents when the MTA launches tolls in Manhattan below 60th Street.

State legislators passed the congestion toll plan in 2019 with three baked-in exemptions — for emergency vehicles, for vehicles carrying disabled New Yorkers and for drivers who live inside the Manhattan congestion zone and make less than $60,000 per year.

 

MTA announces congestion austerity tax hearings

 

NY Post

The MTA’s official review of the environmental impacts of its congestion pricing program gets underway this week with virtual meetings Thursday and Friday for residents of the five boroughs and New Jersey.

The two-hour Zoom forums will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday “focused on” the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island; at 6 p.m. for the proposed Manhattan toll zone below 60th St.; and 10 a.m. on Friday for New Jersey.

More meetings focused on Long Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, the northern New York suburbs and Manhattan above 60th St. are scheduled for later in the month.

Toll backers expect big turnout from opponents like N.J. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, who has encouraged his constituents to attend.

“Jersey residents, you all have an important opportunity to make your voices heard! Starting on September 24th, the MTA is hosting a series of public hearings so you can share their views on NY’s proposed $3,000/yr congestion tax on NJ commuters,” Gottheimer tweeted Sept. 16. “Sign up to attend these critical hearings to put a stop to this ridiculous tax on hard-working Jersey residents!”

“Haters are definitely going to hate,” said Danny Pearlstein of the pro-tolling Riders Alliance. “At the end of the day we have a traffic crisis and a transit crisis and congestion pricing goes a long way towards solving both.”

 Haters going to hate? Real mature. Working people are going to get fleeced, jerk.

Anyone who wishes to speak can register on the MTA’s tolling program website or by calling 646-252-6777. Comments can also be submitted online and by email.

Here is the full list of scheduled public meetings:

• Thursday, Sept. 23, 10 a.m. to noon: The Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island
• Thursday, Sept. 23, 6-8 p.m.: Manhattan Central Business District (60th Street and below)
• Friday, Sept. 24, 10 a.m. to noon: New Jersey
• Wednesday, Sept. 29, 10 a.m. to noon: Northern New York City Suburbs
• Wednesday, Sept. 29, 6-8 p.m.: Long Island
• Thursday, Sept. 30, 6-8 p.m.: The Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island
• Friday, Oct. 1, 1-3 p.m.: Connecticut
• Monday, Oct. 4, 6-8 p.m.: New Jersey
• Tuesday, Oct. 5, 6-8 p.m.: Northern New York City Suburbs
• Wednesday, Oct. 6, 6-8 p.m.: Manhattan Outside the Central Business District (61st Street and above)
• Thursday, Oct. 7, 6-8 p.m.: New York “environmental justice communities.”
• Tuesday, Oct. 12, 6-8 p.m.: New Jersey “environmental justice communities.”
• Wednesday, Oct. 13, 6-8 p.m.: Connecticut “environmental justice communities.”

Public hearings for congestion austerity tax against drivers are coming soon

 

 CBS New York 

  Public meetings on New York City’s congestion pricing plan will begin in September.

The MTA, along with the state and city transportation departments, announced they will hold 13 virtual meetings between Sept. 23 and Oct. 13.

They will target 28 counties in the Tri-State Area to educate commuters about congestion pricing and allow them to voice their opinions.

Each meeting will focus on a different part of the Tri-State Area.

The meetings will take place at the following dates and times:

• Thursday, Sept. 23, 10 a.m. to noon: The Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island
• Thursday, Sept. 23, 6-8 p.m.: Manhattan Central Business District (60th Street and below)
• Friday, Sept. 24, 10 a.m. to noon: New Jersey
• Wednesday, Sept. 29, 10 a.m. to noon: Northern New York City Suburbs
• Wednesday, Sept. 29, 6-8 p.m.: Long Island
• Thursday, Sept. 30, 6-8 p.m.: The Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island
• Friday, Oct. 1, 1-3 p.m.: Connecticut
• Monday, Oct. 4, 6-8 p.m.: New Jersey
• Tuesday, Oct. 5, 6-8 p.m.: Northern New York City Suburbs
• Wednesday, Oct. 6, 6-8 p.m.: Manhattan Outside the Central Business District (61st Street and above)

There will also be three other public meetings for individuals and stakeholder groups in identified environmental justice communities in the Tri-State Area.

New York’s meeting will be held on Oct. 7, New Jersey’s meeting will be held on Oct. 12, and Connecticut’s meeting will be held on Oct. 13. All three meetings will take place from 6-8 p.m.

de Blasio beggingly calls for congestion pricing tax to be implemented

 

 Queens Post

Mayor Bill de Blasio called on state officials Thursday to enact congestion pricing by next year.

He urged the MTA to put its long-delayed plan to charge drivers entering Manhattan below 60th Street in place by July 2022.

“It’s time for the state to get in gear, get congestion pricing done,” de Blasio said during a morning press conference.

The new tolls were slated to go into effect in January 2021, but the plan was held up by the Trump administration and delayed by COVID-19. The Biden administration has since given the MTA the go-ahead to conduct an environmental assessment of the plan.

The agency must complete this assessment before the plan can move forward and de Blasio said it has been dragging its feet. He wants the MTA to expedite the assessment.

The congestion pricing plan could generate $15 billion over four years for much-needed capital improvements to the New York transit system.

The fees to enter the congestion pricing zone could be around $11 to $14 for cars and $25 for trucks during peak business hours, state leaders previously told the New York Times. However, the actual figures will be set by the Traffic Mobility Review Board, a six-person panel created in 2019.

De Blasio, on Thursday, announced the he had appointed Sherif Soliman, the Department of Finance Commissioner, to that board. The board members are officially appointed by the MTA, with the requirement that one member is recommended by the mayor, one member resides in the Long Island Rail Road region, and one member resides in the Metro North region.

The mayor said the subway system desperately needs the money for repairs and upgrades as people begin to return to their workplace and school this fall.

“We cannot have a full recovery without the MTA getting stronger,” he said. “The MTA needs to get it together because right now we’re seeing too many problems.”

 The program would also help reduce traffic congestion in busy sections of Manhattan, improve air quality and boost public transit ridership.

“The pandemic caused a different problem — lots of people turning back to their cars,” de Blasio said. “We’ve got to stop that because that’s caused congestion on the streets, more pollution, it’s bad for the climate.”

 There have also been too many car crashes as well, he added.

“We’ve got to get people out of the cars,” de Blasio said. “Again, the solution [is to] get people back to mass transit, to make mass transit better — that means congestion pricing.”