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Legislator Hofstein: MTA Needs Discounts For Rockland Commuters Before New Manhattan Tolls Are Charged 

New City, NY (March 13, 2024 ) – Rockland County legislators want better treatment from the MTA as it prepares to launch new tolls estimated to cost daily commuters who drive into Manhattan an extra $3,000 annually.

The New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Central Business District Tolling Program could launch as soon as June – the license plate and EZPass readers are already installed – and while some commuters will get a discount, there are zero cuts for Rockland drivers.

“At the very least, we deserve to be treated fairly and this New York City MTA plan does the complete opposite,” Rockland County Legislator Minority Leader Lon M. Hofstein said. “No discounts will be made available to Rockland commuters. Instead, these commuters are looking at a $15 per day toll – a brand new tax – just because they work in downtown Manhattan.”

He noted the situation is even worse for businesses relying on trucks, with the proposed toll for trucks to be $24 or $36 depending on their size.

Legislator Hofstein is the sponsor of a resolution unanimously adopted by the County Legislature that calls on the Governor and the State Legislature to delay the new tolling program until passage of a state law mandating discounts for Rockland and other drivers entering the city after crossing the Tappan Zee or George Washington bridges.

The Central Business District Tolling Program, also referred to as congestion pricing, would affect vehicles entering all parts of Manhattan at or below 60th Street, excluding the FDR Drive, the West Side Highway, and the Hugh L. Carey (Brooklyn-Battery) Tunnel connection to West Street.

State lawmakers and then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo authorized the plan in 2019 as a way to ease traffic and reduce air pollution in NYC’s congested business core and as a way to raise $1 billion annually for upgrades to the city’s transit system.

Approximately 4,000 daily Rockland commuters travel into the congestion zone.

Under the plan, drivers entering Manhattan’s central business district through the Lincoln or Holland tunnels will get a $5 credit for the tunnel tolls they pay, which will then be applied to the congestion pricing toll. Those entering through the Queens-Midtown or Hugh L. Carey (Brooklyn -Battery) tunnels will get a $2.50 credit. Truck credits range from $6 to $20.

Drivers who cross the Tappan Zee or George Washington bridges on their way into the congestion zone will get zero discounts.

Daily commuters aren’t the only ones who would be impacted. The new tolls would be in effect at all hours except between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. weekdays and 9 p.m. and 9 a.m. weekends, so if you’re headed to Broadway, Madison Square Garden or anyplace else below 60^th Street, you’ll be hit with the toll. If you don’t use EZPass, you’ll also pay more.

Legislator Hofstein said the treatment of Rockland drivers mirrors that of the “metropolitan commuter transportation mobility tax,” a 2009 payroll tax put in place on employers and the self-employed not only in NYC, but Long Island and Rockland, Orange, Putnam, Duchess and Westchester counties.

Yet, Rockland still hasn’t seen any bang for the buck despite the additional funding it has been providing for the past 15 years, still has no one-seat train ride into Manhattan, and still has no significant MTA system improvements in Rockland.

Just the opposite, Rockland experiences a $40 million value gap between how much is paid into the MTA via taxes and other revenue versus the services provided.

The overwhelming majority of revenue to be collected by the new congestion pricing tolls is slated to cover the costs of operating the NYC Transit bus and subway system.

“Rockland and other commuters outside New York City are again being forced to supplement transportation costs for commuters who live in New York City,” Legislator Hofstein said. “The commuters using the New York City Mass Transit System should be held responsible to supplement the cost for any improvements made. To place the burden on those commuting from Rockland is unfair and just wrong.”

He added, “The MTA and others need to stop seeing people who live outside New York City’s official boundaries as ATMs that they can just keep draining. This new toll, which is a tax, is going to cause hardships on many families who are already struggling just to get by,” Legislator Hofstein said. 

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