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With the MTA's finances in desperate, dire shape, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has "proposed a compromise on Wednesday that endorses putting tolls on the bridges over the East River and the Harlem River," the NY Times reports. The idea to toll the currently free bridges came up last November, but opposition from drivers has been fierce. Silver offered a compromise to charge $2 tolls to drivers—which is what subway and bus riders pay—and said, Obviously there are some who don’t like the toll. And I put that in the juxtaposition of, ‘Look, this is the only game in town.’” But Assemblyman Rory Lancman (D-Queens) told the TImes, “Tolling the bridges is just not acceptable to me. Once you cross the Rubicon on tolling bridges the future conversation is merely, ‘How much is the periodic increase going to be?’"
Silver Backs Tolls for East River Bridges
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It's the same media that NEVER mentioned Muslims' hatred of Israel as a possible motive for 9/11.
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If it was going to happen, it would be this economy that did it.
I'll guess toll-parity with other crossings within a year if this passes.
i hope he means $2 each way
this is loooong overdue
Agree its long overdue. $2 is a huge compromise - same as subway fare, so hard to complain. Though I wish it would be higher to further motivate people not to drive.
$2 is reasonable. the cheapest MTA crossing is 2.75 (cash)
The million dollar questions are will all the money be going to the MTA (and not to other pork projects) and will the MTA finds ways to waste the new income?
in three years it will be $5 one way...
agree with steven and whitecastle.
I'm trying to figure out a gorilla joke...got nothing.
"gorillas are now charging tolls on the east river bridges? thanks a lot obama, that's the change we can believe in?"
nypost, call me.
After the Union, the Mob, and the old boys from the Country Club get their cut, in 5 years the MTA will be screaming to add MTA tollbooths to the George Washington/Lincoln/Holland crossings, AFTER the Port Authority tollbooths. Hey, they enter Manhatten, we have a right to that traffic.
Once every decade or so, Silver's good for something. However I think this was a horse trade for Paterson giving Silver's pal a judgeship.
What's really pissing me off is the disconnect between the opponent legislators and their constituents. Here's a quote from the Daily News Editorial:
"...in Williamsburg and Bushwick, represented by Assemblyman Vito Lopez, three-quarters of the households don't own cars and less than 2% drive to work...and Lopez has trashed tolls."
Good rule of thumb - if Shelly Silver thinks it is good, it probably isn't.
Bingo! This is a monumentally stupid idea, and probably illegal too. This guy is an outright thief.
If people can afford to park in Manhattan, then they can afford the $2.00 toll. However, this will not even begin to solve the MTA's problems. Mismanagement is mismanagement anyway you look at it.
Instead of finding the root problem which is mismanagement and corruption, politicians ALWAYS find the easy way out. It's ALWAYS collect more taxes or find new modes of income which the public has to pay for.
The public always has to pay for the mistakes of our government.
I guarantee that this hurts cab drivers and raises costs for businesses with their deliveries.
Maybe we could CUT spending first? Novel idea, right?
I am usually against the idea of East River tolls because, hey, we Queens folk are a part of this city too! But when it's put like that, same money as train fare, I have no argument. That's fair.
Tie all increases to subway fare increases. That way when the MTA needs new ivory backscratchers or whatever it will affect every New Yorker, not just those of us who realize a car is unnecessary in the city.
wow you are so evolved. there are people who actually do need cars in the city you arrogant prick
For once a state assemblyman has a good point; it's a slippery slope we're talking about here. Two dollars doesn't mean shit when you know that it will be at least three within a year or two.
This is a practical compromise that addresses a very serious issue. The State and City need to focus on improving mass transit, or the economy really is doomed.
In this case the Speaker is doing the right thing. Hopefully he can get the votes, we're running out of time.
Is it actually legal to land-lock an American citizen on an island with no way off except for a fee? Staten Islanders and Manhattanites can at least get off their islands for free. What about in case of emergency? Isn't this actually an extra tax for people who live on Long Island that people on any other boroughs do not have to pay? I think if they make a 100% toll to leave the island from 100% of the bridges there could be a legal challenge and constitutional issue at hand. As far as I know they cannot lock anyone into any US area under penalty of law, which charging anyone even a penny to get off the island with no other way would be doing just that.
If you can find an actual law that would, you know, actually cover that, I won't ask you to save us all the trouble by moving off LI now.
There are plenty of islands that you can only get to and from by a for-pay ferry - in this area alone we have the most of the communities on Fire Island, Shelter Island, Block Island and farther afield Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, the islands in Puget Sound, Catalina Island. These are only the ones off of the top of my head. Where did you make up this "cannot lock anyone into any US area under penalty of law" nonsense?
And it would be about time that car drivers stopped getting their free ride. If you can afford a car, with the gas and maintenance, and afford to park it in Manhattan, then you can afford to pay the toll.
Among the reasons not to live on Lawn Guyland, this one ranks 16,675,988,986,564th.
I'd pay double the tolls if they'd let us run Shelly Silver over.
Who is paying to build / staff / manage these tolls? It could probably cost more than it generates. Not to mention hurt cab drivers even more than they already are.
Someone tell Rory Lancman that MTA customers have been dealing with that question for decades. Those bridges aren't going to hold themselves up.
is it going to cost anything to ride a bicycle across the bridge?
George Washington is free to bikes, drivers pay.
Triborough Bridge (RFK) is free, if you can still ride across through the construction, drivers pay.