Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Micah Kellner

Kellner to Ravitch: Don’t Bother Proposing East River Bridge Tolls

kellner.jpgAdd Micah Kellner's name to the MTA doomsday scorecard. Yesterday, the Upper East Side Assembly member came out in favor of increasing license and registration fees for New York drivers as a transit revenue booster.

Under the Kellner plan, which originated with the non-profit Citizens Budget Commission, motorists would pay flat fees, rather than the weight-based assessments recently proposed by city comptroller William Thompson. Kellner says the new fees would raise $550 million a year -- a little more than the income projected from tolls on the now "free" East River bridges.

On that note, Kellner's press release includes this odd passage:

"Early indications suggest that the Ravitch Commission will announce Friday that tolls on the East River bridges are the centerpiece of their recommendations. This is a proposal that has been recycled time and again in each and every fiscal crisis but has always failed to gain the necessary support to be implemented. I don’t know why they think this time will be any different, but I am hopeful that the Governor’s office will look to other ideas like this one and reinstituting the commuter tax as he constructs his Executive budget."

Could it be that the idea of imposing East River bridge tolls is "recycled time and again" because it's a proven and equitable course of action? Rather than take a stance for or against, Kellner characterizes new tolls as a non-starter -- as if, as an elected state representative, he himself is in no position to influence the issue.

Sounds all too familiar.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Gale Brewer Flips on E-Bike Registration Due To ‘Nasty’ Pressure

The former Manhattan borough president says she supports banning e-bikes from parks and a state campaign to require licensing.

October 8, 2024

Is Amtrak’s Big Dig Harming West Baltimore’s Black Neighborhoods?

Amtrak's single biggest infrastructure project got hit with a civil rights complaint. How should sustainable transportation advocates get involved in the conversation?

October 8, 2024

Tuesday’s Headlines: The Real Ghost Car Crackdown Edition

More ghost cars are being towed away. Plus other news.

October 8, 2024

Monday’s Headlines: Violation Calculation Edition

Let's talk a little about NYPD enforcement of moving violations, plus other news (yet, understandably, not a word about our Mets).

October 7, 2024

Talking Headways Podcast: Transit Themed Rock Music

Meet a band that writes exclusively about the car-free life on public transit. And it rocks!

October 7, 2024
See all posts