years, and particularly in election years, New York City’s political elite has solid an occasional eye toward the transit-poor hinterland of Staten Island.
Within the throes of a re-election campaign in 1997, Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani made the Staten Island Ferry free. Final year, the Republican nominee for mayor, Joseph J. Lhota, known as for the extension of the subway system to the borough - a place he never volunteered during his time as chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Now Staten Island seems to have attracted the attention of Albany. Citing a novel bond between borough and bridge, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo mentioned at a information convention on Thursday that he had reached an agreement with the Legislature to scale back the one-approach toll on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge to $5.50 for Staten Island residents enrolled in an E-ZPass low cost program.
The span connects Brooklyn and Staten Island, and the current charge is $6 for individuals who use the crossing at the very least three times a month. The E-ZPass price for nonresidents is $10.66, and the cash fee is $15. Tolls are collected only on the trip to Staten Island.
“The Verrazano is not just one other bridge,” Mr. Cuomo said on the information convention, which included Republican lawmakers. “Whenever you toll that bridge,” he added, “you toll the principle artery” of the borough. The governor is up for re-election in November, although state officials mentioned the toll plans had been within the works for a year. Many Staten Island officeholders have been asking for toll aid for a lot longer.
Native lawmakers hailed the plan as a much-needed break for drivers, and Mayor Bill de Blasio’s workplace posted a supportive Twitter message. A discount of 20 p.c may also be provided for some business vans that make more than 10 journeys a month.
However some critics stated the change, expected to take impact in April, was arriving at a time when the transportation authority could in poor health afford to lose revenue. The proposal will price $7 million from the state budget and $7 million from the transportation authority.
Last 12 months, in accordance with the governor’s office, tolls had been paid for 13.3 million Staten Island vehicles and 2.1 million trucks. “The truth of the matter is, there’s actually no cash for this,” said Richard Barone, director of transportation programs on the Regional Plan Association, a analysis and advocacy group. He mentioned that the amount was a small piece of the authority’s budget, however that “it just means they’re sort of placing themselves additional within the hole.”
Richard Ravitch, a former chairman of the transportation authority, also questioned the rationale. “I can offer no rationalization,” he said. “Are people not using the bridge due to the tolls?” The authority referred all inquiries to the governor’s office. Its board should nonetheless approve the measure at its assembly later this month, though that step is taken into account a formality.
“The governor might be very persuasive,” joked Allen P. Cappelli, an M.T.A. board member from Staten Island who has long advocated decrease tolls.
The plan has also caught the attention of transit workers, who've been working without new contracts. The authority has said it can not afford to offer raises with out equivalent reductions in different labor costs, a position that has set off fractious negotiations with subway and bus staff and staff on the Lengthy Island Rail Road. The railroad’s largest union on Wednesday voted to strike as early as subsequent month if necessary.
“We expect it’s fairly apparent that the M.T.A.’s ‘incapability to pay’ argument has left the station,” stated Jim Gannon, a spokesman for Transport Staff Union Native a hundred, the city’s largest union of transit workers. He cited the toll discount, among different policies.
Asked on Thursday about the union’s response, Mr. Cuomo mentioned that the toll changes have been “not indicative of any well being condition or monetary condition of the M.T.A.”
Some residents on Thursday expressed concern that the lower tolls would add to automotive and truck visitors in their neighborhoods, however Samuel I. Schwartz, a former city traffic commissioner, recommended that the change may reduce congestion along a number of the busiest corridors.
“Truckers will possible go through Staten Island, take the Verrazano Bridge, then take the Manhattan Bridge to exit to New Jersey,” said Mr. Schwartz, who has a separate plan to overtake the town’s tolling system.
Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, stated the plan didn't go far sufficient: Brooklyn drivers, too, should pay decrease tolls.
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