NYC congestion pricing began Sunday

Long Island Morning Edition

New York City’s congestion pricing program, charging drivers entering 60th Street and below in Manhattan, started yesterday, with MTA officials optimistic it will loosen traffic-clogged streets. At a news conference Sunday, Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Janno Lieber said motorists can expect to see toll charges on their E-ZPass accounts within a few days after fees are calculated based on what time drivers entered the congestion zone, their vehicle type and whether they stayed on an exempt road like the FDR Drive.

"We’re only 12 hours in, so it’s hard to give an accurate measure of the program’s success ... It’s going to take a few days for this all to kick in, but it’s gone smoothly," Lieber told reporters Sunday afternoon. "We don’t expect New Yorkers to change their behavior overnight."

Lieber encouraged drivers to make sure their E-ZPass accounts are connected to their license plates, as the toll for passenger vehicles is $13.50 without E-ZPass rather than $9 during peak hours. As reported in Newsday the congestion pricing program launched at one second after midnight. About seven hours later, hundreds of vehicles, a handful of taxicabs and several food trucks drove across the Queensboro {59th St.} Bridge into Manhattan to avoid the new congestion pricing charge. The bustling business district on the East Side stands right at the perimeter of the congestion pricing zone.

Digital screens inside subway trains Sunday morning advertised the new policy. "Congestion pricing is here," one message read on a Bronx-bound No. 2 train, alongside an address for an MTA informational website. "Less congestion, better future."

***

Emphasizing the “promise and potential” of a new year, East Hampton Town Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez listed a series of proactive initiatives including affordable housing, environmental conservation, fiscal responsibility and human services — the latter including a defense of the new senior citizens center that has come under criticism for its proposed size and cost — in the annual State of the Town address, when the East Hampton Town Board held its organizational meeting this past Thursday. As she begins the second of a two-year term as supervisor, following 10 years as a councilwoman, Burke-Gonzalez said that housing “remains a cornerstone of our efforts” and that last year “we truly embraced” the All Hands on Housing initiative announced three years ago by her predecessor, Peter Van Scoyoc. Christopher Walsh reports on 27east.com that Burke-Gonzalez closed her State of the Town address with a pitch for citizen involvement. “I invite every member of this community to join us in this journey. Volunteer your time, lend your voice and bring forward your ideas. This is our time to come together and to ensure that East Hampton continues to thrive as a place of possibility and hope,” she said. “Now, let’s get to work.”

***

About 170 student volunteers from an array of North Fork schools and service groups removed about 55 tons of trash, debris, equipment and scrap metal from the Greenport woods surrounding the Bay to Sound Trail in 2024, in an effort coordinated by Group for the East End and Southold Town. Beth Young in EAST END BEACON reports that the Bay to Sound Trail, in the works since 2007, is a network of trails that crosses a variety of ecosystems west of Greenport Village on lands preserved by a variety of entities. It includes trails on Arshamomaque Preserve, Skipper Horton Park and Pipes Cove Preserve, among other state, town and county-preserved properties.

The 2024 work involved the creation of about 1.8 new miles of trails through Pipes Cove Preserve, the former site of Sill’s Dairy Farm, where volunteers spent more than 1,620 hours taking down the remains of a defunct milk house and dairy barn, along with the buildings’ contents. They removed more than 50 wheels and tires, a broken plow, sickle bar mower, several engines, household appliances, multiple trailers, tons of cinder blocks and even a houseboat.

Volunteers included Boy and Girl Scouts, Southold ROTC students, Mattituck High School students, Southold Elementary School fifth graders, Peconic Community School students, and members of the Southold Peconic Civic Association, library groups, and the general public.

***

In the wake of more than two dozen drone sightings over Francis S. Gabreski Airport in the weeks leading up to Christmas, Suffolk County officials, led by Sheriff Errol Toulon and County Executive Ed Romaine, announced on Friday that the county would deploy a new security technology to identify and track drones that violate the airspace at county airports, including both Gabreski in Westhampton Beach and MacArthur Airport in Islip. Stephen J. Kotz reports on 27east.com that they made the announcement at a press conference at Gabreski, at which Toulon reported that starting in mid-December and culminating on Christmas Day, there had been 28 unauthorized drones that had violated, or come close to violating, Gabreski airspace. “We are not talking about 5 miles out. We are talking about over the airport, over taxiways, over runways, and that’s a serious safety concern that’s impacted air operations,” said Chief Deputy Sheriff Chris Brockmeyer, who added that air traffic controllers had sighted the drones. He said the airspace around Gabreski is restricted in a 5-mile radius, with authorized drones allowed to fly at increasingly higher altitudes the farther they are from the airport. Sheriff Toulon stressed that operating a drone in restricted airspace without permission can be both a criminal and civil offense on the federal and state level. Operating a drone in a reckless manner that endangers lives and property can result in fines of up to $250,000 and a three-year prison term, the sheriff said. Romaine called on the FAA to ask the FBI to investigate illegal and dangerous drone flights and arrest those responsible. “We have to answer that danger by asking our federal authorities to step up to the plate and do the job,” Romaine said. Besides being a commercial airport, Gabreski is home to the 106th Wing of the Air National Guard, which makes its airspace even more restricted than a commercial airport.

***

The New York State Legislature returns to session Jan. 8 with priorities of making New York more affordable, revamping the school aid formula and banning cellphones in schools. Democrats also say they are preparing to protect the rights of immigrants, the poor, and women from potential actions by the incoming Trump administration. Legislative leaders aren’t detailing their agenda yet. That will begin when they return to session, but it also will change in reaction to Governor Kathy Hochul’s State of the State address on Jan. 14. Michael Gormley reports in NEWSDAY that politically, Democrats, who control all state levers of power, are stinging from rebukes in national and state elections from Republicans who ran on platforms that blamed Democrats for inflation and the cost of living. "We’re focused on affordability," said Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins in November at an event held by the Association for A Better New York, a coalition of corporate, nonprofit, labor, and education leaders. That focus meshes with what voters want, according to recent polls. More than two-thirds of voters say the rising cost of living is their top concern, according to the Dec. 20 poll of voters by Siena College.

On that topic, the Legislature will address Hochul’s proposal to send rebate checks to most taxpayers. The checks would provide $300 to a taxpayer who makes up to $150,000 and files as a single earner. For a joint return, $500 checks would go to families making up to $300,000.

Hochul said 8.6 million New Yorkers would receive the checks, including 1.3 million Long Islanders.

***

In advance of the Martin Luther King, Jr federal holiday on January 20th, the Heart of Riverhead Civic and Riverhead Library are proud to present the 3rd Annual Volunteer Expo this coming Saturday, January 11 from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM at Riverhead Free Library, 330 Court Street in Riverhead, New York.

Many local not-for-profits are returning this year with a range of interesting opportunities. Local residents of nearly every age and interest will be offered situations through which they can give back to their community for a single day of service or on a continuing basis.

Meet and speak with representatives from numerous east end non-profit organizations including the North Fork Animal Welfare League, Riverhead CAP, River and Roots Community Garden, Corchaug Repertory Theatre, North Fork Environmental Council (NFEC), Sound Justice Initiative (SJI), Hope and Resilience Long Island (HARLI), East End Arts, Butterfly Effects Project and Surfrider Eastern Long Island.

***

Transit officials in New York City are counting on congestion pricing to generate billions of dollars to pay for urgent upgrades to the region’s subways and buses as well as the commuter railroads Metro-North and the L.I.R.R. Ana Ley reports in THE NY TIMES that the money collected from drivers will be used by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs the mass transit system, to obtain $15 billion in bond financing that will be paid back with tolling revenue. Perpetually in search of funding, the M.T.A. has put off essential infrastructure repairs for decades, allowing century-old subway tunnels and tracks to crumble. The subway was also not built to withstand climate change, and more intense weather patterns have taken a toll on the system, especially when temperatures soar or flooding occurs with storms. Even so, Gov. Kathy Hochul canceled the congestion pricing program in June because she said the tolls were too expensive. In November, nine days after the election, she revived the program and slashed fees across the board by 40 percent, lowering the cost for most drivers to $9 from $15 during peak hours. Because Governor Hochul reduced the cost of the tolls, the authority is now collecting less money than it had initially expected to and will most likely take longer to borrow the full $15 billion and to pay off the bonds.

The tolls will increase to $12 by 2028, and to $15 by 2031. The new plan is set to generate about $500 million per year during its first three years, and then $700 million when fees first go up, then close to $1 billion when the original toll is restored.

The money generated by congestion pricing is a key part of the authority’s previous spending plan, making up about 29 percent of its $51.5 billion capital program. Projects under that plan are still ongoing.