MTA approves NYC congestion pricing, first-in-nation toll will charge $15 in Manhattan below 60th St.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Wednesday granted final approval for a first-in-the-nation congestion pricing plan that proponents say will bring transformational benefits for the region, but which opponents — including the Nassau representative who cast the lone “no” vote — said could drive residents and business out of New York.

The new tolls, which will charge most vehicles $15 for driving below 60th Street in Manhattan, could be in place as early as June, although MTA officials have acknowledged that several pending lawsuits could delay the plan.

New York’s congestion pricing plan was adopted as state law in 2019 and received federal approval last year, but the MTA Board still needed to approve a final structure for its Central Business District Tolling Program, including the rates for different vehicles, peak hours, discounts and exemptions.

“New York has more traffic than any place in the United States,” MTA chairman and CEO Janno Lieber told reporters following the meeting. “And now, we’re doing something about it.”

Supporters say the tolls will reduce traffic in Manhattan’s gridlocked streets by 17% while also improving air quality and generating funding for mass transit, which is used by about 90% of Manhattan commuters.

The new tolls are expected to bring in about $1 billion annually for the MTA, which plans to bond against the sum to support $15 billion in infrastructure investments. Under the plan, 10% of the revenue will go to the LIRR.

The vote — the culmination of a decadeslong debate over congestion pricing that began during former Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s administration — went 11-1 in favor of the plan, with only Nassau County representative David Mack voting against it. Mack, a real estate developer from Great Neck, predicted the additional tolls could contribute to “major companies leaving New York and going South.”

The MTA Board’s new Suffolk representative, Marc Herbst, in his first board meeting, said he felt obligated to vote in favor of the plan because without it, the MTA would be deprived of the same capital funding that paid for critical infrastructure investments on Long Island, including the LIRR’s new $2.5 billion Third Track.

Herbst said he believes the congestion pricing proposal was “vetted wholeheartedly,” and he saw his vote “as an opportunity to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to putting a $15 billion hole in the system.”

Board member Sammy Chu, of Lindenhurst, noted he’s been working in the sustainability field since installing his first solar panel 20 years ago. And yet, Chu said, “This single vote could be the most impactful thing I ever do to mitigate climate change in my entire life.”

“Even for those who are most frustrated with us, there is a benefit to this, and I hope you can see it,” Chu said before casting his “yes” vote. “We are in the middle of a crisis.”

In public comments before the vote, the majority of speakers supported congestion pricing, including people with disabilities who advocated for the plan’s potential to fund accessibility upgrades in the transit system.

Among Long Islanders, congestion pricing has been exceedingly unpopular, with 72% of registered voters rejecting the plan in a recent Newsday/Siena College poll.

Centereach resident John Banzer sat through the five-hour meeting and criticized “the tone deafness displayed by people who have a six-figure paycheck telling people who have nothing” that they should support the new tolls.

“I don’t see a way … I’m going to be able to afford to pay for this,” said Banzer, 34, whose jobs in construction and performing arts require him to travel into Manhattan frequently. Driving, he said, is necessary, both as a frequent designated driver and for his trade. “I can’t get six drunk friends and three pieces of plywood [onto the LIRR].”

Lieber acknowledged the opposition from Long Islanders, but expressed optimism they will come to appreciate the reduced traffic, as many drivers in other cities that have implemented congestion pricing, like London and Stockholm, have come to do.

“We hope to win folks over as this is implemented,” Lieber said.

Who won't have to pay?

• Authorized emergency vehicles
• Authorized vehicles carrying people with disabilities
• School buses contracted with the NYC Department of Education
• Buses providing scheduled commuter services open to the public 
• Commuter vans licensed with the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission
• Specialized government vehicles

A 50% discount will be available for low-income vehicle owners and a tax credit is available for low-income residents of the Central Business District. Photo credit: Getty

At Penn Station on Wednesday morning, LIRR riders were divided about congestion pricing.

Scott Pennello, a plumbing and heating supplies salesman from Westbury, lugs tools and product samples in 20-pound toolboxes, which can make taking mass transit difficult.

He already pays a small fortune to park, he said — about $160 per day on days when he makes four sales calls — and the toll would hit him hard.

“I need the vehicle, and mass transit’s not going to work,” he said.

Clifford Proctor, an artist from Amity Harbor, said some commuters would feel the bite from congestion pricing, but environmental concerns were paramount.

“The climate is changing and it’s getting warmer, and it’s not an accident,” he said. “All these emissions from cars ... if we want to have a future for our children, we need to make some kind of change.”

Laurence Clarke, of Elmhurst, Queens, who's retired from the restaurant industry, said he believed congestion pricing would ease crisis levels of gridlock in Manhattan. “14th, 34th Street, you can walk faster going crosstown than taking the bus.”

Roberto Ribadeneyra, a loan officer from Massapequa, said: “I am totally against any kind of local government intrusion, putting unnecessary fees and hardships on New Yorkers. … Life is hard enough here.”