Republicans are salivating to pummel Democrats in the 2024 elections for approving the controversial congestion pricing law that could force motorists to pay a $15 toll to enter Midtown Manhattan starting in May of next year.
GOP strategists see the new toll to enter Midtown south of 60th Street as the biggest political gift since Democrats approved the unpopular cashless bail law — which Republicans used as a club to defeat Democrats in prior election cycles, particularly on Long Island.
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Democratic-led state Senate and Assembly approved the congestion pricing law in 2019, setting up the Traffic Mobility Review Board, which recommended the $15 peak-hours toll last week.
His successor, Gov. Kathy Hochul, backs the Manhattan tolling program to raise $1 billion for mass transit and reduce congestion.
“The Albany Democrats own congestion pricing. The Democrats are going to be blamed when the toll goes up,” said Republican pollster John McLaughlin, who has surveyed voters on the issue for the GOP and its candidates.
“It’s a brutal time for the working-class person already struggling with Biden inflation. They have zero tolerance for taxes — and the congestion toll is a big tax and they’re very skeptical about what they’re going to get back from the MTA for it in terms of service,” added McLaughlin.
Republican incumbent Congress members — Rep. Nicole Malliotakis and Michael Lawyer among them — intend to tie their Democratic opponents to the congestion pricing program in what are expected to be tough re-election bids next year.
Public and internal polling shows that the congestion toll is deeply unpopular in the suburbs surrounding New York City and parts of the Big Apple’s more car-dependent outer boroughs.
A recent Newsday/Siena College poll of Long Island residents found 73% opposed congestion pricing while just 22% supported it — suburbs where Democrats already lost all top countywide seats amid a backlash in part over the cashless bail law.
Republican Congress members see the $15 toll as an issue to put Democrats on the defensive and drive them to re-election victories.
“From anti-policing legislation to higher energy costs to the congestion pricing cash grab, every policy we see from the Democrats are making life more difficult and unaffordable for New Yorkers. Congestion pricing is just another burdensome tax that will cost commuters thousands of dollars a year, while shifting pollution and traffic from Manhattan to the outer-boroughs,” Malliotakis told The Post Sunday.
First-term GOP Rep. Michael Lawler, who reps the Rockland and the lower Hudson Valley in the 17th Congressional District, said, “At a time when New Yorkers are struggling to make ends meet and can barely afford to live here, Governor Hochul and Albany Democrats have enacted an outrageous cash grab, stealing hundreds of millions from suburban commuters to fund the MTA’s bloated and mismanaged operations. Voters will remember next November and make it clear that we are not the ATM for the MTA.”
Nassau County Republican Party chairman Joe Cairo called the $15 Manhattan entry toll “crazy.”
“It’s a tax on Long Island residents. It’s not a nickel increase. It’s a $15 tax. It’s a commuter tax,” Cairo said.
Democratic strategists who defended the congestion pricing as sound transportation and environmental policy are preparing for the GOP onslaught.
“This is right out of the Republican campaign playbook. They’re about scaring voters and making them angry,” said Nassau County Democratic leader and state party chairman Jay Jacobs.
“I like to know when Republicans come up with solutions. They never do,” Jacobs said.
The chief campaign strategist of the state Senate Democratic majority said he wasn’t concerned, noting Dems in the upper legislative chamber have been able to expand their numbers.
“Rather than putting forward a positive vision, Republicans only know how to appeal to fear. They try using a different issue every election and we keep electing supermajorities. Please don’t ever change, GOP!,” said Sen. Michael Gianaris (D-Queens), the deputy majority leader.
But Democratic Mayor Eric Adams is requesting some exemptions from the $15 toll for people driving into Manhattan for necessities such as medical appointments, for example.
Democrats in New Jersey meanwhile, including Garden State Gov. Phil Murphy, also oppose the $15 toll cross into Manhattan.
The tolling program is backed by mass transit and environmental advocates and some business groups, including the Real Estate Board of New York.
Under the congestion pricing plan, passenger car drivers entering Manhattan south of 60th Street during daytime hours would be charged $15, while motorcyclists would be charged $7.50.
Daytime hours would be between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. on the weekends. Drivers would only be charged once per day.
Outside those peak hours, the toll would be $3.75.
The fee for small trucks would be $24 while large trucks would be charged $36 during daytime hours. At night, those tolls would be discounted to $6 and $9, respectively, to move traffic-jamming deliveries out of commuting hours.
Cabs and other vehicles for hire, including Uber and Lyft, would be exempted from the daily charge, however, riders would have a fee attached to their receipt — set at $1.25 for taxis and $2.50 for other vehicles for hire.
Meanwhile, commuters coming in via the East River or Hudson River tunnels would get a $5 discount against the daytime price.
Drivers traveling on the FDR Drive and West Side Highway would not be charged a toll.
There would also be no crossing credit for drivers coming over the George Washington Bridge or for motorists using the Verrazano to enter Manhattan from Staten Island via Brooklyn.
