From Newsgroup: nyc.politics

They finally caught a brake.

Working class New Yorkers rejoiced Wednesday that congestion pricing was
axed by the Trump administration rCo saying the much-loathed driving toll
was a big financial burden.

rCLIrCOm ecstatic,rCY said Paul Belli, who owns a plumbing business in Brooklyn. rCLNobody needs this. Everyone has high inflation theyrCOre
dealing with already.rCY

Belli said he has rCLspent thousandsrCY on the toll since the controversial fee to drive into Manhattan below 60th Street went into effect six weeks
ago rCo in part because plumbers have on-the-job equipment that require
them to drive to work.

rCLMy customers are going to be very happy because now I can stop charging them for the congestion pricing [adjustments],rCY Belli said. rCLEveryonerCOs been hurting through this whole thing.rCY

The US Department of TransportationrCOs Federal Highway Administration announced Wednesday it had terminated approval of the program, which
aimed to reduce traffic and travel time while raising billions for the MTA.

The transit agency quickly responded by suing to keep the toll in place.

The scheme, which went into effect Jan. 5, irked many blue collar folks
rCo who said they need vehicles for their jobs, or that taking public
transit doubles their commuting time.

rCLWe feel relieved. At the end of the day, we canrCOt keep pushing the
burden to small business,rCY said Larry Zogby, who owns a small trucking company in Queens.

rCLIrCOve been fighting this for three years,rCY he said of the move to pull the plug on the program.

rCLItrCOs ridiculous to pay to go to work in the city rCo not to have fun or go shopping rCo but to go to work,rCY said Paul Caminiti, a teacher who commutes from Staten Island to Manhattan.

He said it would take him three hours round-trip to commute by bus while driving takes an hour and 20 minutes.

The first-in-the-nation congestion pricing program charges drivers in Manhattan below 60th Street a $9 base toll rCo but the fee can increase to
up to $27 when crossing by tunnel or some bridges with no E-ZPass.

Allison Rivera, 42, who works in a medical office in Manhattan said
sherCOs been forking over $45 a week just to get to her job.

rCLFinally,rCY she said of the scrapped toll. rCLIt was so unfair to pay an extra $9 to get to work [daily].rCY

Ricky Stevens, 58, who works in a deli in the East Village added, rCLI didnrCOt vote for Trump, but herCOs doing more for New Yorkers than our governor. IsnrCOt that sad?rCY

Firefighters, cops and other ordinary workers have said for months they
simply canrCOt afford the toll, which was approved as part of a 2019 state
law and later backed by Gov. Kathy Hochul.

https://nypost.com/2025/02/19/us-news/nyc-workers-commuters-rejoice-over-trumps-axing-of-congestion-pricing-toll-im-ecstatic/
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2