When it comes to congestion pricing, it's New York City's biggest loser.
Due to the city's maze of one-way streets and clearly bad planning by the MTA, these New Yorkers must pay a controversial $9 toll just to drive out of their own blocks.
Residents and workers using the East 61st Street parking lot are now forced to pay the heinous toll that went into effect Sunday, even though they are located one block north of Manhattan's congestion toll zone. I lamented to the Post.
The 615 Garage has an exit on Fifth Avenue, a one-way street heading south, so drivers who park there don't enter a costly area, even if they quickly turn around and head uptown. I have no choice but to.
“Whether it's to go to work, get out of town, go see the kids, or whatever the reason, you have to drive around the block and back uptown, ignoring the congestion toll. Not to get my hair cut or do the other things I do in the mountains,” said Andrew Heiberger, who lives at East 61st Street and Fifth Avenue.
The “unique location” of his luxury building — with the only exit on Fifth Avenue and Central Park blocking traffic on the west side — effectively has a tollbooth right outside the front door. This means there is no way to avoid it.
“We should work something out so that people don't get charged a toll, whether they can afford the toll or not,” he told the Post on Monday.
Even before the $9 base toll went into effect Sunday, scores of disgruntled New Yorkers and motorists had decried the unfairness of congestion pricing.
Since the abominable plan began, residents have worried that toll-averse commuters will turn their neighborhoods into parking lots, businesses have imposed congestion toll surcharges on customers, and first responder unions have ordered workers to stay within the zone. instructed them to flee from the station.
Proponents argue that tolling would reduce traffic in Manhattan and encourage mass transit, a goal shared by Mr. Highberger.
Highberger described herself as a “huge fan” of everything from public transportation to buses and bike lanes to pedestrian priority in Times Square.
He also has no problem paying a $9 toll just to drive from his building, which is partially connected to a parking lot, but he feels the absurdity of doing so is unfair. He also said that
“It's the same as putting a toll on a suburban street in the middle of a subdivision. Basically, if you live in a house and you want to go see a friend down the cul-de-sac of your street; “You're going to have to pay a fee to go from one house to another,” he said.
Juan Rios, 58, who works as a private driver for a tenant in a luxury building, similarly said it was “crazy” to pay just to drive a car.
“Even though it's not my car, it's still crazy because I have to pay once a day every time I go,” he said.
David Delarosa, 50, a UPS employee who services the building, was even more blunt.
“That sucks!” he said.
“If you park in this garage and want to go north, you have to go around the toll plaza and come back. That's terrible.”
It's unclear whether the block's unfortunate geographic uniqueness was taken into account when the Metropolitan Transportation Authority developed its congestion pricing plan as part of a state law signed by then-Gov. It was approved by Andrew Cuomo in 2019 and approved by the federal government in 2023.
MTA representatives did not respond to requests for comment.
