Comments on: Espaillat to Westchester: My District Is Your Doormat

By: Peter

Peter — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 14:13:23 +0000

The article from makes me think that you either do not own a car or hate the fact that others do own them. The Assemblyman is absolutely correct and you can ask anyone that crosses that bridge if a $2 toll would have a positive affect on their life. At least with congestion pricing our district would not be impacted as much because a majority take mass transit to and from work if they leave the district to work. I do not know you but you seem to be a reasonable man and to say that $4 a day to go to and from work will have no impact is not reasonable. So which is it are you reasonable or are you a hack trying to get people’s blood pressure up for some purpose of your own. I would like to believe the first but if you keep this up I will have to believe the latter.

By: Charley

Charley — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 22:13:26 +0000

Tom, that’s a great way of putting it. It is totally possible to be pro congestion pricing but against this particular toll. It’s just a lively debate about how best to institute a certain policy, not NIMBYism or angry car owners who don’t want to pay a toll (I’m one of the people who bikes across the broadway bridge and takes the 12 across the 207th st bridge!)

Honestly, I was initially against this sort of toll structure, but accept it now since it’s clear that this is where the policy momentum is headed. An imperfect scheme that approximates congestion pricing and limits the subway increase is better than no scheme at all. But, this is not a desired outcome at all. It is simply the best outcome out of a bunch of bad options.

Espaillat’s stance doesn’t represent a flip-flop, and it would be considered in hindsight an extremely successful move if the debate turns and traditional congestion pricing is put back on the table.

By: Tom

Tom — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 15:59:01 +0000

Thanks, J. Mork. That makes it a lot better as far as I am concerned. But if they are doing it that way, why not make the pay-point further downtown, where it belongs, like with the original congestion pricing proposal?

By: J. Mork

J. Mork — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 15:43:54 +0000

There would be no toll plazas: Most tolls would be collected through a system of E-ZPass readers. Drivers without E-ZPass would be identified and could be billed using digital cameras that snap a picture of each vehicle’s license plate.

From http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/27/nyregion/27mta.html

By: Tom

Tom — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 15:22:01 +0000

I live in Espaillat’s district, close to one of those aptly described “roads that cross a body of water.” I cross that bridge to buy groceries, to go to church, and to use the nearest park.

It’s true that I am one of the 20 percent with a car, but it also true that all of the the people without cars in the neighborhood take dial cars regularly across the same bridges.

And what’s more, I don’t want a toll plaza with all of that extra noise and fumes in my neighborhood. That’s why I am pro-congestion pricing and anti-toll. I seriously doubt that there are many pro-toll people in the district.

By: Cap'n Transit

Cap'n Transit — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 13:53:41 +0000

I know this is hard for some people on this blog to believe, but people need to make a living somehow and transportation is an excellent way of doing it.

I know this is hard for you to believe, but insulting the people you’re arguing with is a really bad way of getting your point across.

By: New Yorker

New Yorker — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 12:10:38 +0000

Hes against the tolls because he has a lot of livery businesses based in his district. The bridges in question arent real bridges like the throgs neck and queensborough bridge; they are essentially roads that cross a body of water. Small tiny bridges. I know this is hard for some people on this blog to believe, but people need to make a living somehow and transportation is an excellent way of doing it. Punishing livery drivers for operating a business will hurt businesses and create more unemployed people to sit around in washington heights and breathe the polluted air you are all so concerned about.

By: Angus Grieve-Smith

Angus Grieve-Smith — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 04:10:55 +0000

Meanwhile, in Espaillat's native country, the government has the will to not only fund transit, but also to build two new subway lines and an intercity passenger/freight railroad connecting the capital with his hometown.