Congestion Pricing meets with hostility

City Councilmembers Joseph Addabbo and Simcha Felder addressed concerns on Congestion Pricing and The Bigger Better Bottle Bill at the South Queens Democratic Club meeting on Wednesday, February 27.
The City’s Congestion Pricing plan was met with hostility as residents of the 102nd and 106th Precincts saw little to no point in having a tax added on to their commute into Manhattan.
Addabbo pointed out that there are other alternatives to alleviating the congestion in Manhattan, such as enforcing the bus lanes and having deliveries restricted to the early mornings or late evenings. In the event congestion pricing does pass, the MTA would have to provide more buses and trains, a commitment they are unable to make at this time.
“It’s just not the right thing to do at this time, charging people to go into Manhattan with no exemptions, there’s not a veterans exemption or a seniors exemption,” said Addabbo. “Nobody has ever done a study on what impact congestion pricing will have on our borough . . . what about the traffic that backs up into Queens County that our Queens residents get hit with additional fumes and additional environmental issues … because of that I can’t support it at this point, I don’t think I can support it at any point.”
Felder echoed Addabbo’s sentiments, saying that he is “emphatically opposed to it [congestion pricing], unless the improvements in mass transit come first.”
Felder continued to explain that the $8 fee would not serve as a deterrent because people who can afford it will pay whatever is necessary to enter the city, but he pointed out that if mass transit upgrades preceded congestion pricing, then it could be a solution to the traffic problem within Manhattan.
Another hot-button issue for residents was passage of the Bigger Better Bottle bill, a bill that would expand the deposit to non-carbonated beverages such as water, sports drinks and iced tea, as well as transfer unclaimed deposits to the State Environmental Protection Fund.
Felder staunchly opposed passage of the Better Bottle Bill, mainly due to the fact that most people choose to place their recyclables into their recyclable pail, and they lose out on receiving their five-cent deposit back.
B.K. Brumberg disagreed with Felder’s sentiments, saying that the Better Bottle Bill is important because non-recyclable containers litter the streets, and that it is a livelihood for certain people.
Other residents disagreed with Brumberg, saying that they do not want strangers entering their property for their recyclable bottles and that they would prefer to keep the five-cent deposit in their pockets.