New York Finds New Way To Screw Over NYC Residents With Congestion Pricing Toll

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I love New York City. The energy of the city is unmatched. You can see a Broadway show or eat at the greatest restaurants in the world. It's a weird place with even weirder people that you see everyday but that's part of the excitement. It's not for everyone and I totally understand that. It's not a relaxing place at all but for those of us who can put up with the franticness of it, we adore it.

At least we do when our local politicians aren't constantly fucking us in the ass.

SOURCE - New York’s new toll for drivers entering the center of Manhattan debuted Sunday, meaning many people will pay $9 to access the busiest part of the Big Apple during peak hours.

The toll, known as congestion pricing, is meant to reduce traffic gridlock in the densely packed city while also raising money to help fix its ailing public transit infrastructure.

Drivers of most passenger cars will pay $9 to enter Manhattan south of Central Park on weekdays between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. and on weekends between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. During off hours, the toll will be $2.25 for most vehicles.

Let me get this right. In a city that is losing population left and right, they are going to make it even harder to get into the city? An estimated 600,000 have left the city since 2020. Let's also call out congestion pricing for what it really is - a tax on the working class.

The city will tell us that this tax (sorry, I meant toll) is done to relieve the traffic in the city and raise money for the MTA. Let's tackle the 2nd problem first. You want the MTA to generate more revenue? How about you enforce people paying to use the subway. Nearly everyday, I see people jump the turnstiles. Why shouldn't they? There is no penalty and no one to stop them. The real idiots are those of us who stand in line at the outdated machines putting more money on a card that is essentially theater. At some point, I'm the idiot paying for something that so many use for free.

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You want us to take the subway? You have to make them safer. Just in the past month, we've had someone set on fire, at least one stabbing and another person pushed on the tracks for no apparent reason. 

SOURCE - There have been twice as many homicides in New York’s transit system so far this year as during the same time period in 2023 – even though overall violence in the system is slightly down, according to police data. 

It's not like things were that great in 2023 either. I've lived in and out of the city for my entire life. The subway does feel safer than it did when I was a kid in the 1980's - but that's a pretty low bar. Things feel much less safer than they did 10 or 15 years ago. You can blame whatever you want: political/policy changes, after-effects from COVID, etc. I'm not smart enough to know why things have gotten worse but they have. The subway carried 6 million riders in 2015. In 2023, that number dropped to 2 million. Why do you think 4 million people stopped using the subway?

So, this brings up the concept of "congestion pricing". City officials led by Governor Kathy Hochul said this is being done to reduce traffic in the city. This was introduced as a $15 toll in June but was shelved by her months after because it was unpopular. Then when elections were over and the people voting on the bill were safely in office, she brought it back but tried to trick us into thinking this was a value at only $9. It speaks volumes about how you know your constituents will feel when you push something through only after the election process. That to me is un-American because it goes against letting people speak their voice at the ballot box.

So who really ends up paying this toll? It's working people who drive into the city for whatever reason. Maybe it's more convenient for them to pick up their kids. FUCK YOU, PAY ME. Perhaps it's women who don't feel comfortable on the subway. FUCK YOU, PAY ME. A sales guy or vendor who needs his car at the office because he has to make local business trips. FUCK YOU, PAY ME.

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It doesn't matter what it's for. According to a woman who lives in Albany, the scourge of traffic is so bad, she knows better than we do. Our mayor Eric Adams, who supposed to be the one fighting for us against the state politicians, is too busy fighting his own corruption allegations. So there is no one looking out for us.

This is exactly how something like this slips by. However, don't be mistaken. This isn't a New York City issue. Yes, NYC is the first city in the country to implement congestion pricing. But, you can't tell me that if this brings in revenue and we all become numb to just another toll…that your city won't put this in place next.