4 JANUARY 24, 2019 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Holden: Keep city residents exempt from congestion pricing
BY BILL PARRY
BPARRY@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
Aft er Governor Andrew Cuomo
vowed in his State of the State
address on Jan. 15 to implement
a congestion pricing plan in 2019,
Councilman Robert Holden of Middle
Village once again called for an exemption
for city residents and the release
of the full details of the proposal.
The proposed plan would allow
MTA Bridges and Tunnels to levy
a toll on certain roads, bridges and
tunnels in or entering Manhattan
south of 60th Street, with the goal of
reducing congestion in that region
and reinvesting the toll money in
the MTA.
“We are already overburdened by
takes and tolls in this city, so why
would our residents have to fund
this project too?” Holden said. “It will
further increase the cost of living and
give New Yorkers yet another reason
to relocate. Those who commute from
upstate, New Jersey and Connecticut
can pay the toll, but I cannot support
this plan without an exemption for city
residents.”
Other city initiatives have also
counteracted the congestion pricing
plan. Many residents have voiced
complaints that the expansion of
bike lanes has increased congestion,
for example. More tolls for truck
drivers could also make their way
back to the consumer as businesses
raise their prices to compensate for
the added fees.
Ultimately, Holden believes that
congestion pricing would not have a
signifi cant eff ect on congestion and
would cause more frustration for
residents.
While Cuomo did not lay out any
specifi c details of the 2019 proposal,
his 2018 pitch for congestion pricing
was ultimately shot down. That version
would have charged more than
$11 for cars and $25 for trucks to enter
Manhattan. The governor predicts
that his plan could raise $15 billion
for the MTA over the next 10 years.
“The idea of giving more of the people’s
money to the MTA should not be
considered until the agency can prove
that it will do something useful with
it for once,” Holden said.
File photo/RIDGEWOOD TIMES
City Councilman Robert Holden addresses a meeting in Ridgewood back
in 2018.
Queens transit activists and pols clash over Cuomo’s pricing plan
BY MARK HALLUM
MHALLUM@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
Congestion pricing has been contentiously
debated in the city
and state ever since Governor
Andrew Cuomo fi rst announced it
was “an idea whose time has come”
in August 2017, but now it has been
offi cially included in the state budget.
Cuomo made the announcement
during the Jan. 15 State of the State
address that cars and trucks will pay
a heft y toll to enter Manhattan below
60th Street during business hours and
represents progress for transportation
advocates calling for a dedicated
revenue stream from the MTA.
“If we don’t invest now, we’re going
to pay more later and suff er in the
meantime,” Cuomo said. “Literally,
you are directing traffi c by where
there’s a toll-free bridge and where
there’s not a toll-free bridge. This
would say, basically, everyone pays
the toll if you’re coming into the central
business district.”
Admitting that the $15 billion that
would be raised through congestion
pricing still would not be enough,
Cuomo said the city should contribute
50/50 to the MTA.
Aft er Cuomo’s Jan. 15 address, the
Riders Alliance indicated that the
first order of business before the
state can discuss restructuring the
MTA should be issuing new funding
for the authority, which is projected to
have a $1 billion defi cit by 2022.
“As a resident of Queens, I’m excited
that this is the year Governor Cuomo
will use his political power to pass
congestion pricing, which will not only
provide a fair source of funding for our
subways and buses but also reclaim our
streets from car commuters,” Riders
Alliance member Macartney Morris
said. “We’ve always said the state controls
the MTA and should be responsible
for funding it. We expect the state
Assembly and state Senate to stand
with riders in support of congestion
pricing. Riders can’t wait any longer.”
Fix Our Transit is one of the many
organizations who have been holding
Cuomo’s feet to the fi re to fi x the beleaguered
subways and buses across
the city which have been plagued by
delays and meltdowns which escalated
during the summer of 2017.
“With congestion pricing included
in Governor Cuomo’s Executive
Budget, a surge in public support,
and key endorsements from state
lawmakers, it is clear that congestion
pricing has the support to be enacted
as part of this year’s budget,” said Alex
Matthiessen, a spokesman for Fix Our
Transit. “We applaud the governor’s
leadership and look forward to working
closely with the governor and the
state Legislature to pass a comprehensive
and robust congestion pricing in
the coming months. Only then will we
fi nally generate the funding we need
to start fi xing our region’s broken
transit system.”
“Cuomo charts here. He’s making the
case for congestion pricing, and for
NYC to pay more for subway capital
funding,” tweeted Jeff Coltin (@JCColtin)
on Jan. 15.
The announcement comes a little
over a week aft er Council Speaker
Corey Johnson claimed he was draft -
ing a proposal for the city take over
the NYC Transit, which technically is
owned by the city but operations were
turned over by the state aft er the city
went bankrupt in the 1970s and 1980s.
“Car, truck and bus exhaust makes
people sick and is New York’s largest
source of climate pollution,” Conor
Bambrick from the Environmental Advocates
of New York, said. “Congestion
pricing addresses these problems by
taking more tailpipes off the road and
helping fi x New York’s mass transit. We
applaud Governor Cuomo for including
a congestion pricing plan in his budget
and encourage him to work with the
Assembly and Senate in making congestion
pricing a reality in New York.”
The announcement had much in
common with his earlier proposal
to levy fees from motorists enter the
central business district below 60th
Street which was widely supported by
straphangers but unpopular to motorists
and those representing them.
Cuomo assembled the FixNYC
advisory panel to fi nd the best ways
to implement congestion pricing in
January 2017 and it called for $11 tolls
on cars and a $25 fee on trucks during
business hours.
But when April rolled around, transit
advocates had been disappointed
when the Cuomo administration released
the 2019 budget only to discover
congestion pricing was not included.
Congestion pricing has not been
popular in northeast Queens, however,
with elected offi cials standing
up for the 2 to 5 percent of their constituents,
motorists who commute into
Manhattan, who would be taking the
brunt of fees.
Opposition to the plan in Queens
was led by Councilman Barry Grodenchik,
Assemblyman David Weprin
and Councilman I. Daneek Miller.
File photo
Idle 7 trains in Corona
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