The head of a business group representing the Broadway Theater District and Times Square delivered a scathing criticism of the state's plan to impose a $15 “congestion” toll to access the Midtown business district, claiming , this will hinder the growth of the Big Apple's tourist mecca.
“This is just another barrier to people getting into the city — especially the bridge and tunnel people who are so important to Broadway theaters,” said Cristyne Nicholas, president of the Broadway Association, at The Cats Roundtable on Sunday from 77 WABC Radio.
“Remember, they make up about 30 percent of the Broadway audience and have been the slowest to come back,” she told host John Catsimatidis.
Nicholas said the city has not yet fully recovered economically from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This is not the same city it was five years ago. At that time the city was booming. The city was doing great. It was pre-COVID. Broadway was doing well,” she said.
Cristyne Nicholas, president of the Broadway Association, said in a radio interview Sunday that the proposed $15 increase in congestion tolls will hurt business on the Great White Way. Getty Images
Nicholas said remote work coupled with concerns about crime are making tourists from the New York and New Jersey suburbs “nervous” about coming to Manhattan.
“Then there’s this,” said Nicholas. “Broadway is doing well, but it could be doing better, and I don’t think the pricing will help with traffic congestion.”
The Broadway Association represents the Theater District and the Times Square and Midtown Business Improvement Districts.
The congestion toll, which could go into effect as early as May, would impose a $15.50 fee on cars traveling south of 60th Street into Manhattan during the day. Matthew McDermott
“The economy is shaky. There has to be another way to do this,” she said.
Nicholas said the $15 toll was more about raising nearly $1 billion a year to fund public transit rather than a “congestion alleviation” to discourage vehicles from entering during rush hour to enter the business district of Manhattan.
She proposed charging a lower but uniform toll on all bridges to prevent toll avoidance and traffic diversion to other parts of the city. Some of the East River crossings are currently toll-free.
Under the congestion pricing plan, car drivers traveling south of 60th Street into Manhattan during the day would be charged $15.50 and off-peak would be charged $3.75.
The controversial congestion pricing initiative was met with a mix of critics and supporters. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has supported the measure, while fellow Democratic New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy opposes it. AP
The fee for small trucks would be $24, while large trucks would be charged $36 during the day. At night, those tolls would be reduced to $6 and $9, respectively, to shift congested deliveries away from commuter hours.
Catsimatidis, who owns the grocery stores in Gristedes, said the high truck tolls were simply passed on to customers through higher food prices.
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Democratic-led state Senate and Assembly passed the congestion pricing law in 2019, establishing the Traffic Mobility Review Board, which last week recommended increasing rush-hour tolls by $15.
His successor, Gov. Kathy Hochul, has thrown her political muscle behind the effort, attending a traffic jam praise rally last week.
However, Democratic Mayor Eric Adams is seeking some exemptions from the $15 toll for people driving into Manhattan for essential purposes such as medical appointments.
Some Democrats in New Jersey, including Garden State Gov. Phil Murphy, have been vocal in their opposition to implementing congestion pricing. Some suburban and upstate Democrats also oppose tolls.
Republicans in New York have said they intend to use the issue against Democratic opponents in the 2024 election.
The tolling program is supported by transit and environmental advocates as well as some business groups, including the Real Estate Board of New York.