The Big Apple’s new congestion pricing mandate has turned one city block into a pricey proposition.
A single one-block stretch of First Avenue between 60th and 61st streets will now cost drivers $9 as they come off the Queensboro Bridge — even though they’re driving north and away from the zone.
“I’m shocked,” Clement Foster, a 42-year-old Bronx resident, said as he sat in his black BMW on the corner of First Avenue and 60th Street on Sunday, the first day of the controversial new toll.
The city’s new congestion pricing plan has made it costly to drive a single Manhattan block — even though it’s outside the toll zone.
“I didn’t think I’d get charged here,” the Con Ed worker said. “I don’t even have E-ZPass so I’m guessing I’m paying the most. This sucks. I probably won’t come into the city for work. I’ll stay in the Bronx.
“I’ll request it,” he said. “I’ll ask my boss not to send me into Manhattan.”
Ilias Karanikolis, who’s been driving a cab in the city for 41 years, called the whole thing “ridiculous.”
“I feel bad for all the people this will hurt,” the Astoria resident said. “It will hurt all the poor people here. We don’t have business now. This will kill us. The city does whatever they want to do.”
Meanwhile, the bridge has undergone an overnight transformation thanks to Albany’s new tax on driving into Midtown — it is no longer the only free ride into Manhattan from Queens and Brooklyn.
Drivers motoring into Manhattan on the bridge, also known as the 59th Street Bridge, will get hit with the $9 toll regardless of whether they’re heading to the heart of Midtown or north to the Bronx and upstate.
Uber driver Ali Mohammed said he hasn’t figured out how to charge passengers more due to the new toll. Michael Nagle
The new congestion pricing mandate means the Queensboro Bridge is no longer a free ride into Manhattan. Michael NagleThe Post on Sunday spotted one possible way around it — the 62nd Street exit off the upper deck.
“How many times will they charge me,” complained Uber driver Ali Mohammed of Queens. “I don’t know how I’m going to do this, how I’m going to charge people for the additional toll today.
“I’m not ready. I’m not set up for this yet,” he complained. “I saw the sign yesterday but I didn’t know it would start this morning. What will they make, a million dollars a day? Where is the money going?
Manhattan attorney Carlos Carvajal said his building’s parking garage empties onto 60th Street — and into the congestion pricing zone. Michael NagleGov. Kathy Hochul’s congestion pricing plan, which kicked in on Sunday, charges vehicles driving into Manhattan a new toll starting at 60th Street and below from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Cars are charged $9 per day for entering the toll zone during those hours, while motorcycles pay $4.50, small trucks $14.40, and large trucks $21.60. Taxis, black cars and rideshare drivers get a bit of a break, with cabs paying 75 cents per ride and rideshare vehicles charged $1.50 per ride.
The tolls go down by 75% overnight, but drivers without E-ZPass will get a notice in the mail and will pay a slightly larger fee — although it’s not clear what the exact amount will be.
Ilias Karankolis said the new congestion pricing toll is “ridiculous” and will only hurt poor people. Michael NagleThe money raised by the controversial plan will go to the MTA to help pay for the transit agency’s $15 billion capital plan, state officials said.
But for most New Yorkers, it’s just another pain in the pocket — and not many are keen on using public transportation because of a recent spike in crime in the Big Apple subway system.
And it’s not just the five boroughs feeling the pinch — residents in the outer ‘burbs will need to rethink their Gotham outings.
Follow along with The Post's coverage of Manhattan's new congestion pricing
- New York became the most expensive city to drive in when its congestion pricing began Sunday. New Yorkers now must pay $9 to drive below 60th Street during peak hours.
- Some drivers have begun concealing their plates in an effort to avoid the toll. Some residents of the area are saddled with the cost whenever they want to take their car out.
- Businesses, like funeral homes, have begun shifting the cost to customers. Rideshare app Lyft raised its CitiBike prices for New Yorkers hoping to avoid taking a car. The FDNY union and EMT union claim that congestion pricing will slow down their response times, as well.
- Many New Yorkers are skeptical about congestion pricing’s effects, especially after multiple publicized crimes on the subway in recent weeks. Drivers are expected to dump their cars above the zone, making parking more difficult uptown.
“In theory, it sounds like a really good idea,” Westchester County mom Caroline Defilippo said of the toll.
“But in practice, living in Westchester, it doesn’t really make sense for us,” she said of taking mass transit to avoid the extra charge.
Defilippo, a doctor, drove 30 minutes to a suburban train station Sunday, then stood on the platform for 10 minutes for a 45-minute Metro-North train ride into Manhattan — just to take her 11-year-old daughter to see the musical “Hamilton” on Broadway for her birthday.
The state’s new congestion pricing toll will pay for the MTA’s $15 billion capital plan. Michael Nagle“We come in all the time, but it’s going to make our commute much more complicated because it’s an added layer,” she said of the toll.
One Manhattanite said it’s definitely hitting home for him.
“Congestion pricing is no incentive to take the subway,” said Manhattan lawyer Carlos Carvajal — whose building’s parking garage exits onto 60th Street. “There is disincentive to take the subway. The crime and the craziness. The violence in the subway. That’s disincentivized me.
“On the weekends, maybe I’ll consider the subway, if it’s just me,” he said. “But with all the craziness, with all the violent subway crime, I’m being disincentivized. Especially if I have my wife with me or my daughter. I’m really being disincentivized to take the subway on the weekends.”
In the meantime, Carvajal said he might be looking for a new home — for his car.
“I’m considering moving my car out of my building’s garage, to a garage a block or two north, maybe.”
Additional reporting by Dorian Geiger







