New Yorkers Brace for First in the Nation 'Congestion Taxes"
Conservatives joke that the left will eventually get around to taxing the air we breathe and the sidewalks we walk on. The obvious allusion is to the idea that nothing is safe from taxation in liberal cities.
Today, New York City plans to tax the freedom to move in the United States. For the first time in the U.S., a city will apply "congestion pricing" to charge commuters, partygoers, tourists, and drivers just wanting to get from Point "A" to Point "B" $9 for the privilege of driving through lower Manhattan.
CBS News reports, "Drivers will be charged when they enter the Congestion Relief Zone using the Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queensboro or Williamsburg Bridges, or the Holland, Hugh L. Carey, Lincoln or Queens-Midtown tunnels. Drivers coming from the Bronx or Upper Manhattan will be charged once they reach 60th Street."
Those entering the Congestion Pricing Zone (CPZ) "will now have to pay $9 during peak hours — 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends — and $2.25 for off-peak hours," according to the New York Post.
This is not only the financial and business heart of New York City, it's the entertainment district as well, including Broadway, the Met, and other cultural hot spots.
"Congestion pricing" is a head fake. The real purpose of the tax is not to relieve congestion but to hide the fact that New York Democrats have been robbing Peter to pay Paul for so long that the crumbling subway system can no longer be hidden. According to Bloomberg, subway repairs will cost at least $43 billion over five years. Tens of billions of dollars more will be needed for upgrades.
Albany Democrats have sought to put bandaids on the problem of dilapidated subways for more than a decade. They knew that critical repairs were not being made. They preferred spending money on more important matters like transgender surgeries for inmates.
In truth, they were terrified of the political backlash. And now, those chickens are coming home to roost.
You might remember that back in June, Governor Kathy Hochul scotched the implementation of congestion pricing when polls showed it would cost Democrats the House of Representatives and several swing seats in New York state. "Unfair to working people" was her excuse then. After the election, she suddenly decided that it was OK to be unfair to working people. She allowed the pricing scheme to move forward but lowered the tax from $15 a trip to $9 a trip.
New Yorkers shouldn't worry. It will be $15 a trip soon enough. The planned tax increase to $15 will take place automatically in 2031.
Queens Assemblymember David Weprin, a Democrat, said, “It could definitely hurt the governor and some congressional candidates and state legislative candidates." Weprin is a plaintiff in the teachers’ union lawsuit opposing congestion pricing. “It’s going to have a negative impact in two years if it’s still in effect and not stopped.”
Officials plan to use the toll revenue to obtain $15 billion in bonds in order to shore up the metropolitan region’s troubled mass transit infrastructure. Supporters contend the plan will reduce traffic and improve air quality. But the temporarily lower toll — which Hochul framed as a savings for impacted commuters — has done little to quell opponents. Tolling begins two weeks before Trump takes office on Jan. 20.
MTA CEO Janno Lieber has rolled out Trump-tailored arguments, appealing to the Republican as a New York City civic leader who owns office buildings filled with commuters who rely on MTA buses and trains. Lieber has also tried to make the approval process seem as boring as possible, noting that the federal program congestion pricing falls under — the so-called Value Pricing Pilot Program — has been in place for decades.
New Jersey challenged the scheme in court, but a federal judge denied a motion by Governor Phil Murphy for the court to issue a temporary injunction to delay it. Murphy accused MTA CEO Janno Lieber of “trying to balance the MTA’s books through an unfair and unpopular fee on hardworking New Jersey commuters that has been poorly designed and insufficiently thought through from the beginning.” This is a Democratic governor telling New York what they can do with their "congestion pricing."
Trump will try to withdraw federal approval for the scheme, but it's not clear whether it will survive a challenge in court. Meanwhile, New Yorkers will have to pay $35 a week just for the privilege of driving into the city during peak hours.
