By:  Benyamin Davidsons

The head of a business group representing the Broadway Theater District and Times Square slammed the state’s plan to impose a $15 “congestion” toll to enter the Midtown business district, saying it will hinder the growth of the Big Apple’s tourist district.  As reported by the NY Post, on Sunday morning, in an interview with WABC radio host John Catsimatidis,  Cristyne Nicholas, chairwoman of the Broadway Association said the city has not yet even fully recovered economically from the COVID-19 pandemic, and already officials are making laws that will further block progress and return to normalcy.  “This is just another impediment for people to come into the city — especially the bridge and tunnel people who are so important to the Broadway theaters,” Nicholas said in The Cats Roundtable interview.  “Keep in mind, they make up about 30 percent of the Broadway audiences and they have been the slowest to come back,” she said.

Nicholas stressed that the toll’s timing is off, with tourists and people from NY’s suburbs and New Jersey still “nervous” about coming into Manhattan. “This is not the same city it was 5 years ago. The city then was booming. The city was doing great. It was pre-COVID. Broadway was doing well,” she said.  “Then on top of it you have this,” Nicholas said. “Broadway is doing well but it could be doing better and I don’t think congestion pricing is going to help it.”

Nicholas said the state’s plan to add the $15 toll is more about raising nearly $1 billion a year to finance the MTA and mass transit, and not so much right now about the “congestion mitigation issue”.   The plan says that the toll has two aims– one being to discourage traffic entering into the Manhattan business district during peak hours.  The congestion pricing plan will charge passenger car drivers entering Manhattan south of 60th Street during daytime hours $15.50, or just $3.75 during off-peak hours.  Small trucks would be charged $24 during daytime hours, and $36 for large trucks. At night, those tolls would be discounted to $6 and $9, respectively, in a bid to push trucks to make deliveries during non commuting hours.  Catsimatidis, a billionaire who owns Gristedes chain grocery stores, said the high tolls on trucks will just be passed along to customers through higher prices on food items.

Nicholas suggested that instead of implementing this plan, all the bridges should be tolled at a lower uniform rate, which would discourage toll avoidance.  She said the current plan just diverts traffic to other parts of the city, especially since some of the East River crossings currently have no tolls.

Last week, Gov. Kathy Hochul attended a pro-congestion pricing rally, showing her support for the plan.  In 2019, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Democratic-led state Senate and Assembly had approved the congestion pricing law, and set up the Traffic Mobility Review Board.  Last week, the board came out recommending the $15 daytime-hour toll hike.  The program is backed by mass transit and environmental advocates and some business groups, including the Real Estate Board of New York.

The congestion pricing program could go into effect as early as next spring, per the Post.  The MTA defended the planned toll.  “The vast majority of theatergoers use mass transit, just like fans attending sports events and concerts, “said MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan.