Long Islanders worry as MTA plan could increase congestion pricing by 25% during gridlock days
The MTA says it has the right to add on a 25% surcharge during gridlock alert days. Those days include when the UN General Assembly is in session, when the president is in the city, or when holiday traffic is at its heaviest.
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The MTA could tack on an additional 25% surcharge to congestion pricing once the new tolls start as planned on Jan. 5.
The MTA says it has the right to add on a 25% surcharge during gridlock alert days. Those days include when the UN General Assembly is in session, when the president is in the city or when holiday traffic is at its heaviest.
During peak congestion, a passenger vehicle would pay a minimum of $9 to drive in Manhattan south of 60th Street. That fee would start at $11.25 on Gridlock Alert Days.
The additional surcharge on top of those congestion pricing fees for vehicles entering into that zone has a lot of small businesses on Long Island worried the most.
Ben Jackson owns Ben's General Contracting Corp, a residential and commercial construction company based in Freeport. He says his stomach dropped when he heard about the surcharge.
"It's a money grab. It's just another tax. That's all it is,” he said. "It's going to hurt us. It's another charge! We have to pass it on to the customers. The customers are not happy to pay more money, nobody ever is."
Vincent Gilmore, president of Bayview Florist in Massapequa Park, says he worries about how to balance keeping customer prices down while supply costs go up.
"You just tack that on and from there, that cost just unfortunately flows over to the customer,” he said. “So in the end, who loses? Your everyday citizen."
Gov. Kathy Hochul's office issued a statement about the MTA's plan.
“Hardworking New Yorkers deserve a break, which is why I fought to cut the congestion pricing toll by 40%. This will reduce traffic in Manhattan and fund long-overdue investments in public transit, while keeping costs lower for New Yorkers who drive into the city. We have spoken to the MTA and made it clear: under no circumstances will I allow this discretionary 25% surcharge on gridlock days to be used," the governor wrote.
The MTA says it has the authority to tack on the surcharge but added that it is the New York City DOT that decides which days are Gridlock Alert Days.
