BP MARKOWITZ STATEMENT ON PROPOSED EAST RIVER AND HARLEM RIVER BRIDGE TOLLS

I am flabbergasted by recent reports that proposals to toll East River and Harlem River bridges are still on the table. I have always maintained these tolls are a ‘backdoor’ to congestion pricing and are discriminatory, impractical, and impose an unfair ‘tax’ on Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and the Bronx. Three of the four un-tolled bridges—the Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg—are in Brooklyn, and because some parts of our borough have limited or no access to mass transit, drivers and others who use their vehicles for small businesses or medical appointments in Manhattan have no choice but to use these spans. It is, of course, critical to find funding sources to close the City’s growing budget gap in these tough economic times, but placing the burden unfairly on the backs of hard-working Brooklynites is not one of them.

Throughout this process, I have repeatedly offered alternative ideas for raising revenue. First and foremost, let’s do this the right way and bring back the long overdue commuter tax, with proceeds funding mass transit projects in the five boroughs. As City Comptroller William Thompson has suggested, we could tie auto registration fees to a car’s size and model type. Other viable solutions include a modest increase in the gasoline tax in the MTA region and an extension of the car registration surcharge now imposed in New York City to the entire MTA region. This way, the burden is shared by everyone and not just dumped on a small part of the region. And how about a mega-millions lottery, with all proceeds dedicated to mass transit?

Let me repeat: Scrap the tolls. Dedicate the tax. And let’s keep the wheels of New York City’s economy turning.