NYC Congestion Pricing Will Take Its Toll on Chinatown Businesses: Critics

Subway

By means of Carl Campanile

The controversial $15 toll, the first in the nation to enter Manhattan’s business district south of 60th Street, will put a dent in the economy of tourist-dependent Chinatown, critics argued Thursday.

Chinatown activist Susan Lee — a plaintiff in the lawsuit against the MTA to halt the tolls — said during a protest against congestion pricing that her downtown neighborhood is still recovering from the COVID-19 outbreak.

“The toll will really hurt our economy, really hurt our recovery,” Lee, head of New Yorkers Against the Congestion Pricing Tax, said at a news conference on Mott Street.

“Chinatown has suffered tremendously over the past 20 years,” she said, also referring to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

The neighborhood is known for its many Chinese and Southeast Asian restaurants serving dumplings, pork buns and noodles, as well as its sidewalks lined with souvenir shops, bubble tea shops and food markets selling fish, herbs and spices.

Retired judge and former council member Kathryn Freed, a Lower East Sider, said, “This has been a historic community for 200 years. They want to make it disappear by force.”

“It’s a money grab. It’s smoke and mirrors,” Freed said.

The MTA announced last week that it would implement the toll starting June 30, despite ongoing lawsuits.

Thursday’s protests appeared to be a final call to stop the seemingly inevitable toll.

“This toll will hurt businesses that have had to close their doors during the pandemic. It’s crazy,” said Queens Councilman Robert Holden.

He said companies that have to pay higher tolls to deliver will pass the costs on to consumers.

“Everything is going to become more expensive. How stupid is that,” Holden said.

Holden also argued that the MTA is not a good manager, noting that hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue have been lost due to fare cuts on buses and subways.

But for all the anger directed at the MTA, transit officials are merely following the orders of New York’s elected leaders.

The congestion pricing program is a reality thanks to a state law championed in 2019 by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Democratic-controlled Legislature.

His successor, Gov. Kathy Hochul — raising congestion pricing — said the new toll would generate $1 billion in revenue for public transit while reducing traffic and air pollution in Manhattan.

But politically, the toll is a loser in public opinion among voters — nearly two-thirds of New Yorkers across the political spectrum oppose the fare system, while just 25% support it, according to a Siena College poll conducted last year. week was published.

MTA officials defended the coming toll, dismissing “pro-traffic” opponents who can’t get their way in court.

“We are responding to their pro-traffic lawsuit in court, where a 4,000-page environmental assessment will show that congestion relief produces less traffic, safer streets, cleaner air, and more investment in the public transportation most people use,” says MTA- main policy. and external affairs chief John McCarthy said Thursday.

Meanwhile, the MTA on Monday approved discounts to make public transit options more attractive while implementing congestion pricing.

It will increase service frequency on six popular express bus routes from Brooklyn and Staten Island to the Manhattan congestion zone and offer a 10% reduction in the price of monthly commuter train tickets within New York City to travel along the Long Island Railroad and Metro-North stops.

Both programs are intended to appeal to people in the suburbs who might consider switching to public transit from the Manhattan Central Business District, officials said.