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Comments

• [1] Joe Corrao from Brooklyn July 13, 2007 - 10:29AM

  Congestion Pricing is good for people that have to work in Midtown and want to breathe...it worked in London didn't it?...

  
  
• [2] Jeff Hoppa from Cabrini Blvd (Wash Heights) July 13, 2007 - 10:34AM

  We live near the Cloisters in Upper Manhattan and got a car when we had a baby. Congestion pricing would definitely impact us and (perhaps) encourage us to use mass transit when coming downtown.

  What about the ecological impact of Alternate Side of the Street Parking regulations? We can't afford a garage and burn a LOT of fuel driving around 4 days a week looking for a legal parking spot!

  
  
• [3] Janet Wasserman from Upper West Side July 13, 2007 - 10:34AM

  I was hit by an SUV on Sunday, January 7 - a very crowded day with vehicles and pedestrians because the weather was nice. The SUV went through a red light at 97th Street and Broadway, one block from my apartment building. I am fearful that congestion pricing, which I support, will make this area a mine field of vehicles being just east of the 96th Street access to the West Side Highway. There is no good thinking on these issues. I was in London last year and it seemed to work well there. This is a hugely complicated matter and I will be afraid to go out into the streets given our propensity for lousy planning.

  
  
• [4] Dan from NJ July 13, 2007 - 10:51AM

  Just a question:

  Why should certain categories of drivers be exempt from the congestion tolls when they are not exempt from existing tolls?

  
  
• [5] tom crisp from Manhattan July 13, 2007 - 11:29AM

  RE: the price of a permanent parking space.

  At today's typical price of $1 per hour to park at the "ticketed" parking on the street, and figuring 12 hrs paid/12 free for street parking, $225,000 would buy 52 years of parking on the street.

  This does not take into consideration the time spent running to the meter, tickets when you don't get back in time, possible vandalism, getting snowed in ... or the fact that the "condo-ized" parking is re-sellable, possibly at profit, while the metered parking is money gone for good.

  But rather than compare the condo-park to street parking, compare it to garage parking paid by the day or month. There are many $500 a month parking contracts out there - that's $6K a year, or 38 years worth for 225K IF the price doesn't go up, which it will.

  On the other hand, there will also be taxes to pay on that expensive real estate ... and are there maintenance fees based on square footage in the building? Management costs? Tips?

  Pretty clever of the property owners, if they can get $1000 a sf for basement space ... they don't even have to put in bathrooms or kitchens.

  
  
• [6] Brooks Nelson from Live in Brooklyn / Work in Manhattan July 13, 2007 - 11:44AM

  Instead of Congestion Pricing that will cost the local / state and federal government money as well as continually tax New York Drivers, how about New York City change the building code to mandate any new building construction or major renovation project include off street parking garage for cars and vans. The cost of parking will drop as more spaces are available, BUT the city will continue to collect the same or more tax revenue.

  Chicago has parking space in the building. More street parking becomes used for parked truck traffic of for through traffic. Currently everywhere I look around Union Square there are cars (and some trucks) parked in illegal spaces on the street. They are not towed or ticketed. They have special City Employee permits or Doctor’s permits that allow for a street to be a single lane instead of the two or three lane wide street it was intended to be.Traffic CRAWLS

  More Parking and stricter enforcement of the parking regulations will help. Let the developer’s pay for creation of more parking off street and stop taxing New Yorkers.

  
  
• [7] Brooks Nelson from Live in Brooklyn / Work in Manhattan July 13, 2007 - 12:00PM

  I take Mass Transit most of the time when traveling to / from work. A congestion pricing plan that does not include an investment in the current transit system to improve service prior to implementation of congestion pricing and a mandate that revenue from congestion pricing after implementation be continually reinvested in mass transit to improve the system’s service and the number of people in the New York area that it serves will result in a tax on New Yorkers without the ability for New Yorkers to change how they live and work. The current Mass Transit system is already stressed with overcrowding, deteriorating infrastructure and no major capital improvement project in decades. If Bloomberg wants less cars, give the people an alternate way to get to where they need to go. The vast majority of people who work in Manhattan and allow the companies located there to thrive and pay tax reside outside of Manhattan. No immediate improvement in Mass Transit before implementation of congestion pricing is “putting the cart before the horse”.

  There has been the argument that you can reduce the amount of carbon by reducing the amount of cars traveling in Manhattan. Congestion Pricing does not guarantee less traffic just a higher cost living in New York. If the streets are cleared of parked cars by providing more off street parking, the amount of emissions will drop as less time is spent by cars and trucks waiting in traffic jambs.

  
  
• [8] Dirk Gently from Push the line to 110th street July 13, 2007 - 03:39PM

  I live on the UWS and would absolutely love to see congestion pricing pushed to 110th street so that my neighborhood at 104th would also see the benefit. As for those who reverse commute, you pay a bridge toll or what, $6? Add another $2 for congestion pricing oh waaaahhhhhhh!

  The air sucks in NYC. How can anyone argue that removing cars from the city via congestion pricing won't make NYC a better place to live?

  Best way to free up street parking for automobiles? Charge some money for it, let's start with the size of a parking space & compare it to the size of a studio apartment. $1,500 / month to park on the street is appropriate use of public space. Otherwise, let's use this space for something worthwhile; stickball tournaments and bbq parties!