Congestion Pricing Revelation!

Initiating congestion pricing in the middle of winter was like kicking city dwellers in a stomach after punching them in the face. Let me explain….

When congestion pricing was supposed to go into effect, it was warm out. Manhattanites had transportation OPTIONS! We could take a train, we could walk, we could ride a bike or use a bike share or we could take a cab or Uber. Starting this in the dead of winter while the cost of living rises isn’t nice. The whole process is a failing of Gov. Hochul and her office to act when it was time to. When it was supposed to go into effect, there was a plan. People could ease into the new structure and patterns. Now we all suffer.

To add insult to injury, it is now suggested that bike share rates are going up. We all are familiar with bike share, the one with the Citi Bank name on the side that is owned or operated by Lyft. This will start to smell like a luxury as rates increase and leave its intended purpose as an alternative form of transportation.

All this coupled with the destruction of our small businesses makes the winter deployment hard to understand. It demonstrates the complete lack of understanding from the office of the governor. I have no political bias on this subject nor an agenda. This is about residents, people like me and you in a city that used to never sleep, but will now must contend with its new diagnosis, sleep apnea.