Bridge Tolls
Advocacy Project

Brooklyn Politics
By Erik Engquist

POLS SHORTSIGHTED ON TOLLS

Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz opposes tolls on the East River bridges because three of them--the Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Williamsburg--are in Brooklyn.

"Many more Brooklyn residents drive to Manhattan than vice-versa," the beep said. "Bridge tolls would constitute an unfair new tax on Brooklynites, while Manhattan residents would get off nearly scot-free."

Numerous other Brooklyn pols are also lined up against the tolls, including Councilmembers Mike Nelson and Lew Fidler, State Senator Carl Kruger, and Assemblyman Felix Ortiz.

But the point of East River tolls-which could be collected without even slowing down vehicles, thanks to E-Zpass or smart-card technology now in use elsewhere--is less to raise revenue than to alleviate automobile congestion on the bridges and in Manhattan.

It would also reduce jam-ups on Flatbush Avenue, the primary vehicular artery to the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, for tens of thousands of motorists.

Besides, do New Jersey politicians complain that tolls on the Hudson River crossings discriminate against their constituents?

Markowitz even claims that tolls would reduce the number of visitors to Manhattan's cultural institutions. Can you imagine this conversation? "Honey, would you like to see the new exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art this weekend?" "No thanks, dear, I don't want to pay four bucks for the Brooklyn Bridge toll."

Didn't think so.

If anything, the reduction in bridge traffic would encourage more museum-goers (who typically can spare a few shekels) to visit cultural institutions.

The issue of bridge tolls was raised earlier this year by Mayor Mike Bloomberg, in large part to help close a $5-plus billion budget gap for the next fiscal year. At a May 24 lunch with Brooklyn reporters, Council Speaker Gifford Miller told us the proposal was still on the table. But he sounded unenthusiastic about the possibility, and noted, "There's a lot of opposition to it."

Miller disputed the notion that drivers would welcome the tolls as a time-saver, noting that many drivers opt for free crossings over less crowded toll crossings. But straphangers cannot choose free subways and buses. It is not clear why drivers should have such an option.