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New East River Bridges Toll Proposal Goes After Everyone, Including Bicyclists

50 Cents For Bikes, More Surcharges On Cabs Part Of 'Gridlock Sam' Plan

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(credit: CBS 2)

(credit: CBS 2)

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NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – The city’s former traffic commissioner has a new plan to put tolls on East River bridges. But this proposal has some novel “selling points,” including a first-ever toll for cyclists.

Plan to toll the bridges have come and gone over the past few years, but the latest one by Sam Schwartz is starting to pick up steam, maybe because it goes after everyone.

“I’m trying to be equal opportunity pain throughout the region,” Schwartz said.

WCBS 880′s Marla Diamond On The Story


Schwartz, known as “Gridlock Sam” to many, wasn’t kidding Friday when he told CBS 2’s Marcia Kramer that his new plan to raise $1.2 billion a year tolling the East River bridges will hit a lot of people. He wants to make everyone pay, even some who think they should be exempt.

“I’m asking the bike riders to pay 50 cents each way to use the bridges coming into our Central Business District,” Schwartz said.

Schwartz also wants to put a new surcharge on yellow and livery cabs, a surcharge on so-called “black cars” and a surcharge on parking in Midtown. New tolls would be put on the Ed Koch Queensboro, the Williamsburg, Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges.

Driver would pay $5 with E-ZPass; $7 without.

But in exchange for keeping cars out of the Central Business District below 60th Street, Schwartz wants to reduce – that’s right, reduce — tolls on uptown spans, the Triboro, Whitestone and Throgs Neck bridges.

The round-trip tab would drop from $13 to $8.

With Mayor Michael Bloomberg in Asia, Deputy Mayor Cas Holloway said that while the mayor isn’t supporting a congestion pricing plan at this time, it is necessary to find some way to fund mass transit.

“It is definitely vital that we figure out how we’re going to fund transit for the long term. It’s the only way New York City is going to stay competitive,” Holloway said.

WCBS 880′s Rich Lamb: Deputy Mayor Says The Plan Will Get Due Consideration


Drivers are definitely not on board.

“It may help with traffic, but I mean I think we pay for enough as far as tolls coming into the city and gas prices the way it is. I don’t think we need more tolls,” Brooklyn resident Lance Smith said.

“I think it would just slow traffic more. I’m not really for it,” added Rhonda Rosenfeld of New Hyde Park.

“That would be a disaster,” another person said.

Just for the record, before 1911 there were tolls on the Ed Koch bridge — 10 cents for cars, 5 cents for push carts and 3 cents for horses.

Please share your thoughts below…

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  • Roy Vegas

    Why not make everyone wear an ez pass, and every time one walks across the street, it could charge a penny. Too much regulation, too much charging. http://royvegas.blogspot.com

  • Pete

    What’s next, chardge a boat for going under the bridge?

  • Pharmk414

    Very nice site!

  • Pharme491

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  • Shafted

    Transit Union Mafia Needs Your Money Now. Shut up and pay up.
    Yu thinka yu gonna bike our bridge and not pay up fung gu.
    Don’t count on the politicians to come to the rescure, Chuck Schumer turns blind eye to the unions and mob, he chases after computer programmers, telemarketers and working people, anything for a headline.

  • AA

    time to ride the East River Ferry

  • ALEX

    How about charging Pedestrians we well to cross the bridges?? Fair is FARE!!!!!

  • V Licitra

    This mayor and the central city residents are going to try to restrict, as much as possible, access to their inner circle. It is an attempt to ghettoize the outter bouroughs. It is shortsighted, vulgar, elietist, and smacks of hypocrocy.

  • suibne

    that’s it you idiot, make sure you penalize the very people who were trying to help solve your pollution, traffic problem all these years. anybody who thinks of running for office should be kicked hard in second grade. after that, remove their feet if they insist on keeping it up.
    suibne

  • The Freeholder

    I guess ending some of the mayor’s more quixotic quests, like salt in food and trying to enforce NY laws in other states, wouldn’t save enough money to help, huh?

  • valricoslash

    Why stop at 50 cents? If bicyclists want theffull righs and privileges of other vehicles on the roads, then they should pay the same tolls as well.

  • Fred

    ““I’m trying to be equal opportunity pain throughout the region”

    how about taxing the illegals and all the welfare recipients. You have 10% of NYC paying for the free ride of the other 80%. It’s disgusting and plainly not working.

  • Steve

    Typical lib. They push alternative energy as a cost savings then want to punish people that follow their plan.

  • MikeHenrySC

    “Share the road” has been a mantra of bicyclists for years. Now they can “share the taxes” for using those roads.

  • Articbob

    Try something transforming and kit bloomberg out of office. His record of “It’s good for NYers” has not but drove the City into the spiral of overtaxing, over regulation, The man needs to go and get the economy. There is one big obstacle, He’s filthy rich and will be hard to unlodge for his position of supremness. But it’s your choice!

  • OrlandoRican

    Another reason why I moved out of New York. Why don’t they figure out how much this tax will generate and cut an equal amount from what they are spending now on one of the city’s multiple vote-buying programs. Or fire the idiott who came up with this idea. I’m sure he is costing the city a lot of money.

  • kcsparky

    If New York really wants change, the progressive liberal love affair will have to stop and getting the unions under control. That means unions working for its members….not owning and controlling them These people just didn’t appear…they were elected and is the problem of every resident there. These kinds of things will not change until your city, county and state governments are rid of progressive liberalism and over-controlling big government. Open your eyes and wake up!! But don’t feel alone….it is a real national problem.

  • kcsparky

    If New York really wants chqnge, the progressive liberal love affair will have to stop and getting the unions under control. That means unions working for its members….not owning and controlling them These people just didn’t appear…they were elected and is the problem of every resident there. These kinds of things will not change until your city, county and state governments are rid of progressive liberalism and over-controlling big government. Open your eyes and wake the fu(k up!! But don’t feel alone….it is a real national problem.

  • Steve

    You people who vote for liberals deserve everything you get. Liberals don’t belong in any position of power because they are mentally ill. Yet you vote for them.

  • ed lynn

    Maybe you should only charge people to enter New York. If they are leaving the Big Apple, they should be allowed to leave for free. Isn’t their departure a blessing for New Yorkers? Better yet, pay people to lave New York and not return After all, New York is just too good for the rest of the USA.

  • Mark S

    I have an idea. Charge Democrats $20.00 per day per direction (they always advocate more taxes) and let Republicans cross for free. I think everyone in NYC would be a Republican.

    • ed lynn

      You naughty boy. Its a great idea.

    • SerfCityHereWeCome

      Having (unfortunately) been born and raised in that area, trust me, you WILDLY underestimate the extent of the mindlessly rigid ideological dogma of Bloombergrad inmates. They would smuggle nukes to terrorists in a heartbeat to raise the money for the tolls before abandoning their beloved Depressioncrat party, even after a Republican were to die in the process of rescuing their entire family from a burning building and then having a Depressioncrat walk by and murder their freshly-rescued family and laugh in their faces.

  • Luke

    NYC has had the East Coast Disease a long, long time. Hey, New York. Why don’t you do what the rest of the people do. If you don’t have enough money, cut back your spending. Don’t hit people that are already suffering from this recession with more taxes and fees!!

  • doug

    yes yes yes let’s tax the bike riders Then pick me as commissioner for let’s say 250k then i’ll need a staff and a limo and an office and an enforcement arm riding BMW sport bikes to catch those offenders and perhaps a bike riders jail and here we go again. Kudos to all the safe bike riders the ones that stop at lights and don’t pass on the right good job to the both of you the rest can throw a double lip lock on my love muscle

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