Pols blast proposed East River tolls
Almost a century after the last toll was collected on an East River bridge, the idea has been resurrected yet again, but now as an alternative to the mayor's congestion pricing plan.
East River toll plans have been floated several times in the past 40 years, only to fail after a fierce round of opposition each time. History began to repeat this weekend as outer borough elected officials spoke out against the idea, which is being considered today at a meeting of the state commission charged with studying traffic-reducing.
"I think it disproportionately affects the middle class. I think it disproportionately affects businesses that cross those free bridges, and I think it would unfairly tax outer boroughs," said City Councilman David Weprin (D-Hollis), who organized a news conference against the tolls at City Hall Sunday.
The toll idea is just one of several alternatives being considered to Mayor Michael Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan, which would charge drivers $8 to enter Manhattan.
Commission Chairman Marc Shaw has said in published reports that the bridge tolls would generate money for mass transit. The tolls would not cost asmuch in overhead or require as many cameras as the mayor's plan.
Bloomberg's preliminary budget in 2002, when Shaw was his top deputy mayor, included plans to toll the East River bridges. Ideas to charge on the free bridges surfaced several times, including a push by former Mayor Ed Koch that failed just like the rest.
Opponents of congestion pricing, Weprin included, have said an East River toll plan is doomed again.
Some consider it just another way of charging commuters who drive into Manhattan's central business district because motorists from New Jersey and the suburbs would have their tolls offset a congestion-pricing fee while East River commuters will have to pay under the current plan.
Even supporters of the mayor's plan, which promises to generate hundreds of millions for mass transit, have blasted the tolls.
"As the mayor experienced in his first year in office, even talking about these tolls is extremely divisive and does not enhance the public policy debate," Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing) said in an e-mailed statement.
Yet Assemblyman Richard Brodsky (D-Westchester), who sits on the traffic commission and opposes congestion pricing, said that while he does not have a position on any alternative, the mayor's plan is collapsing.
"What Marc [Shaw] is trying to say is there are non-congestion pricing alternatives that will raise revenue and prevent congestion, and that I think is a step in the right direction," Brodsky said.
Taking a toll
Plans to charge motorists on East River bridges have never taken off, usually felled by stiff opposition. Here are the most recent attempts:
2002: Mayor Michael Bloomberg's preliminary budget in 2002 included plans to toll the East River bridges.
1991: Mayor David Dinkins floated the idea of East River tolls when he spoke about his preliminary budget.
1981: A pollution-reducing toll plan proposed by Mayor Ed Koch was scrapped after the federal government found New York state in compliance with clean air statutes.
(amNY)
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