Benedetto proposes toll rebate
for TN, Whitestone, RFK bridges
BY ALEX MITCHELL
As the era of congestion
pricing for the city approaches,
one Bronx assemblyman has
proposed a plan that will ease
the wallets of the boroughs’
travelers.
Assemblyman Michael R.
Benedetto announced a toll rebate
proposal for non-commercial
travellers crossing the
MTA-managed Throgs Neck,
Bronx-Whitestone and RFK
bridges on Thursday, June 29.
The proposed round-trip
rebate would roll back the
bridges’ current toll of $19 by
mail or $12.24 by EZ Pass with
an approximate 45% discount
for all city residents.
“This could save commuters
between $1,400 to $2,000
per year,” Benedetto said during
his press conference just
yards away from the Harding
Avenue entrance for the
Throgs Neck Bridge, adding
that he is “seeking justice” on
behalf of city commuters.
Benedetto said that his assembly
district is in what he
discribed as a ‘transportation
desert.’ East Bronx residents
have few transit options when
it comes to crossing the East
River to work, visit family and
friends or take advantage of
the many world-renown institutions
and shopping opportunities
on the other side of the
river, he said.
“Bronx residents that work
in Queens and Brooklyn have
to spend $12 or more per day
on a commute. That’s just not
fair,” he said.
“This plan provides opportunities
for commuters in
communities like mine to receive
a much-needed benefi t,”
he continued.
The assemblyman’s reduced
price bridge toll proposal
was originally suggested
by traffi c expert ‘Gridlock’
Sam Schwartz, who recommended
the toll rebate for daily
commuters in response to the
state’s recently approved plan
to initiate congestion-pricing
in midtown Manhattan below
59th Street.
Schwartz said in a statement
the congestion pricing
plan fi nally addressed the tolling
of all East River crossings,
but it did not relieve the astronomical
cost that the Throgs
Neck, Bronx-Whitestone and
RFK bridges are charging city
residents.
A Traffi c Mobility Review
Board will be set up to analyze
the specifi cs of the rebate and
exactly how much of the congestive
MPCA’s Columbus Day Parade route once again shortened
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, S 2 EPTEMBER 6-12, 2019 BTR
pricing generated toll
money will be used to offset
transportation costs in other
parts of the city, according to
Benedetto.
Standing alongside Benedetto
in support of his colleague’s
initiative was Councilman
Mark Gjonaj.
He agreed that a rebate was
the appropriate means of action
in response to congestion
pricing.
“Easing the quality of life
for our residents is always our
mission,” Gjonaj said. “Giving
them a rebate on their
commutes when other transportation
options are limited
is something I am most defi -
nitely in support of,” the councilman
added.
While at the podium with
Benedetto, Gjonaj addressed
an additional Throgs Neck
Bridge issue.
The Harding Avenue entrance
for the Throgs Neck
Bridge has become a severe
source of congestion, especially
when roadwork is being
done on the bridge. Locust
Point residents are often stuck
Assemblyman Michael Benedetto and Councilman Mark Gjonaj at the
Harding Avenue enterance for the Throgs Neck Bridge on Thursday, August
29. Jewel Webber
behind a blocks long single
line of cars, waiting to get on
the bridge, delaying their trip
home by up to a half hour.
“I am working with the
NYC Department of Transportation
to install a right
turn lane at Harding Avenue,”
Gjonaj explained.
A right turn lane from a
dedicated lane on Harding
Avenue at East 177th Street
would provide Locust Point
residents with the ability to
forgo the traffi c backup at the
bridge entrance, he said.
Elected offi cials march down Morris Park Avenue during last year’s parade.
File photo / Laura Stone
BY STEVEN GOODSTEIN
One of the borough’s biggest
parades has been forced
to shorten its route - again.
The length of the upcoming
43rd annual Bronx Columbus
Day Parade is being
reduced for the second time in
ten years.
This year’s parade, hosted
by the Morris Park Community
Association and its parade
committee, will take
place on Sunday, October 13,
beginning at noon and kicking
off at Bronxdale and Morris
Park avenues.
In 2010, former Mayor
Michael Bloomberg and the
NYPD shortened the routes
of all NYC parades by 25 percent
and restricted parades
to a maximum of fi ve hours,
in order to save over three
million dollars in the city’s
budget.
The Bronx Columbus
Day Parade route originally
ran from White Plains Road
along Morris Park Avenue
to Williamsbridge Road and
then north to Lydig Avenue
with the reviewing stand and
bleachers set up between Neill
and Lydig avenues. When the
portion of the parade on Williamsbridge
Road, from Morris
Park to Lydig avenues was
cut out of the parade route the
NYC Parks Department reviewing
stand was set up at
Morris Park Avenue and Williamsbridge
Road.
Earlier this year the
MPCA parade committee was
notifi ed that a Park’s policy
that went into effect recently
would necessitate another
route change.
According to Parks, “...(the
agency’s) equipment rentals
changed in 2018. The policy
limited the set up of Parks
equipment to be on Park property.”
Parks cited insurance
liability concerns for the new
directive.
To accommodate the new
policy this year’s parade route
will begin at Bronxdale and
Morris Park avenues proceed
along Morris Park Avenue,
turn north at Williamsbridge
Road and end at the Pelham
Parkway South service road,
eliminating the parade march
from White Plains Road to
Bronxdale Avenue.
The traditional pre-parade
Mass and breakfast at St.
Dominic’s Church on Unionport
Road had been a key element
of the parade since it began
over four decades ago. At
press time a discussion was
set to possibly keep the Mass
at St. Dominic’s.
“The change in the parade
route was a diffi cult thing to
do - but it would have also been
diffi cult (to hold the parade) if
we didn’t make this change,”
said Al D’Angelo, president
of the MPCA. “In a perfect
world, we would love to have
the old parade route back, because
the businesses who are
now not a part of the parade
will suffer.”
“Unfortunately, it’s a loselose
scenario and it’s a situation
where not everyone is
going to be happy about this
decision,” said Chris Alessandro,
chairman of the Morris
Park Columbus Day Parade
Committee. “It’s a shame
because this parade is a great
tradition, not just for Italian
Americans but for the entire
neighborhood.”
Alessandro, who marched
in the parade as a kid, has
been involved with the parade
committee for 13 years. This
is his second year as the parade
committee chairman. He
added that the diffi cult decision
to once again shorten the
parade route was not meant to
be a snub against any of the
businesses below Bronxdale
Avenue.
In May, the committee selected
FDNY Captain Frank
Vignali as the parade’s grand
marshal. P.S./M.S. 498 principal
Carol Ann Gilligan was selected
as honorary grand marshal.