I write in response to the April 5-11 “On Point” column “Drivers must fight city’s plan for congestion pricing.”
Bob Friedrich has characterized the Move NY plan as “a heavy-handed, tax-collecting scheme” sold on the promise of lower tolls on some of the lesser-used bridges in our city and wonders how long such a discount could last.
A few facts may help to put Friedrich’s mind at ease:
• Move NY proposes to introduce tolls on journeys to midtown Manhattan while reducing tolls on five Queens bridges (Throgs Neck, Whitestone, Triborough, Cross Bay and Gil Hodges).
• Under Move NY, for every daily trip from Queens to midtown Manhattan that is now tolled, two additional trips from Queens to points elsewhere will benefit from reduced tolls.
• Under Move NY, any future increase in tolls would be applied equally and consistently to all crossings, thus ending aggressive hikes solely on outerborough bridges, which has resulted in the unfair tolls in place today.
Move NY improves city transportation in two key ways: substantial toll reductions for millions of New Yorkers traveling between Queens, Long Island, the Bronx and Staten Island, and increased investment in the citys highways, bridges, subways and buses to offer new transportation options that benefit all city neighborhoods.
And to ensure these improvements do not add to the debt burdens of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the city or the state, the plan asks New Yorkers who drive to midtown Manhattan to pay a fair toll equal to what is charged at the Queens-Midtown Tunnel.
It is a fair deal for our city.
Jordan Hare
Sunnyside
