A bipartisan bill to ban the controversial $15 “congestion” toll for entering Manhattan’s business district south of 60th Street was introduced Wednesday by New York Rep. Nicole Malliotakis and Rep. from New Jersey Josh Gottheimer.
“The MTA’s congestion pricing plan is nothing more than a money grab that will take more money from commuters and shift traffic from Manhattan to the outer boroughs, thereby increasing pollution in my district, especially in minority communities,” said Malliotakis, a Republican who represents Staten Island. and South Brooklyn said.
“The MTA’s war on cars is putting travelers out of business, and we will continue to use every legal and legislative tool we have to put an end to it,” she said.
Gottheimer, a Democrat, represents a northern New Jersey district that borders the George Washington Bridge.
“The MTA’s mismanaged congestion tax is nothing more than a shameless money grab that will lead to more traffic, pollution and financial heartache for families in Jersey and New York. This is exactly why we are introducing legislation at the federal level to stop it,” Gottheimer said.
Gottheimer separately held a news conference outside MTA headquarters downtown, demanding an explanation of how the transit agency estimated the new $15 toll in Midtown would generate $1 billion in income. He claims it would increase threefold.
He complained that the MTA had denied his legal requests for information.
Gottheimer said he was sending a bipartisan letter with his New York GOP colleagues to the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to request a formal subpoena for the information he sought in his legal request and a hearing in which MTA executives could testify on the congestion tax. .
In response, a top MTA official — Long Island Rail Road President Rob Free — mocked Gottheimer when asked about the Garden State congressman’s criticism.
“Gottheimer – Goodheimer – I’m not sure of his name,” Free said at an unrelated news conference celebrating the LIRR’s 190th anniversary.
“I think I saw in a video that he was being driven here in a car. I’m trying to understand why he didn’t take New Jersey transit and transit over the river and use the MTA system,” Free said of Gottheimer, to laughter from advocates of public transportation.
But the public is overwhelmingly opposed to the congestion charge.
A Siena College poll released Monday found that nearly two-thirds of voters in New York City and the Empire State oppose Manhattan’s new toll across all sectors.
Congestion pricing is being implemented because of a state law championed by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Democratic-controlled Legislature in 2019 — but only 34% of Democrats support it.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, Cuomo’s successor, has defended congestion pricing as a good thing to reduce traffic, improve the environment and fund public transportation, amid a plethora of lawsuits to block it.
The toll could be charged from June.
New York Post
