New York City Insider: Mayor, NYC City Council Should Cut Congestion Tax to Help Recovery: Group.

 

Keep NYC Congestion Tax Free 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: GROUP URGES MAYOR ADAMS, CITY COUNCIL TO HALT CONGESTION PRICING TAX TO AID NEW YORK CITY RECOVERY.

New York-Apr. 26…As the New York City Council discusses targeted tax cuts to help the ailing New York City tourism and hospitality industries recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, Keep NYC Congestion Tax Free, a diverse coalition of civic, business, and labor organizations and businesses throughout New York City, has one simple solution: stop the incoming Congestion Pricing Tax from going into effect. 

The Congestion Pricing Tax, scheduled to begin next year, would create an expensive paywall to enter Manhattan south of 60th Street — the exact area of the city most struggling to recover. It is estimated that the Congestion Pricing Tax will range from $9 - $35 per vehicle per day. 

“Mayor Eric Adams and the City Council are right to worry about the future of Manhattan, and the Congestion Pricing Tax is certain to make the situation worse,” said Keep NYC Congestion Tax Free spokesman Joshua Bienstock. “Adding a paywall to enter Manhattan while we’re trying to encourage repopulation makes no sense whatsoever. The message ought to be that New York City is wide open to business and tourism; not that New York City is open to business and tourism for a $35 fee if you drive a car. This is a simple matter of common sense, and we urge the Mayor and Council leadership to consider it.”

“A new tax on drivers is a bad idea for so many reasons,'' Mr. Bienstock continued. “In addition to hurting low-income New Yorkers living in transit deserts the most, this regressive tax would massively increase traffic north of 60th Street in Manhattan and redirect carbon-belching trucks into communities of color. Besides,” Mr. Bienstock noted, “New York now has federal infrastructure dollars; it doesn't need another tax.” 

Keep NYC Congestion Tax Free, a diverse coalition of civic, business, and labor organizations and businesses throughout New York City, argues that implementing a tax on vehicles traveling south of 6oth Street in Manhattan will, among other things, permanently damage efforts to revitalize the two districts.