CAMPBELL HALL – During her career in the New York Police Department (NYPD), Alison Esposito knew couples who worked opposite shifts to save on daycare costs, often swapping children while commuting to and from the precinct.
New York’s Finest, other first responders, and commuters can’t avoid this expense: The MTA’s congestion pricing goes into effect later this month, on June 30th, and Esposito blasted the tax.
“You have someone like Kathy Hochul who says let’s throw another tax at residents,” said Esposito at a roundtable discussion with the State’s Conservative Party Chairman, Gerard Kassar, this week in Orange County. Esposito, who secured the Republican and Conservative ballot lines for November’s General Election, is running against incumbent Congressman Pat Ryan in New York’s 18th District.
“Congestion pricing is hurting the Hudson Valley,” Esposito added. “It’s hurting the commuters going into New York City, the cops, the firemen, the nurses. We are at our breaking point and they just keep hitting us.”
Transit officials approved the congestion pricing plan that would charge a $15 fee for most drivers entering the busiest part of Manhattan, south of 60th Street during daytime hours (5 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends) and $3.75 overnight. Those vehicles would be charged only once a day.
According to the MTA, congestion pricing will generate revenue for improving mass transit and force some drivers to avoid Manhattan, potentially reducing air and traffic pollution.
“Police and firefighters get paid a decent wage, but it’s not a lot,” Esposito said. “Now, you will charge them that extra hit, that extra gut punch of congestion pricing. It is an extra tax because the MTA is mismanaged and can’t stay afloat. They are putting their hands in your pocket and taking more money from New Yorkers who are already struggling.”
Tom Lapolla, who served in the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) for 38 years, said that congestion pricing will prompt some firefighters to retire or request a transfer from Manhattan to another borough.
“It is a big topic of conversation in the firehouses,” said Lapolla, a Republican, who is running against incumbent Assemblyman Chris Eachus in the 99th District. “If you leave the fire academy and get assigned to midtown or downtown Manhattan, you immediately take a $5,000 pay cut. These are unintended consequences of congestion pricing that nobody is considering.”
