Congestion toll takes effect, costing NYC commuters $9 to drive below 60th Street

Motorists heading into some of Manhattan’s busiest neighborhoods have begun shelling out a first-in-the-nation $9 congestion toll — a controversial levy critics contend will drive people out of Gotham and devastate the local economy.

The scheme officially took effect at midnight on Sunday, meaning drivers entering the city below 60th Street will now have to pay $9 during peak hours — 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends — and $2.25 for off-peak hours.

During peak hours, large trucks will pay $21.60, small trucks $14.40 and motorcycles $4.50.

Drivers on Saturday ripped the plan and trashed Gov. Kathy Hochul, hours before the scheme went into effect.

“We pay a lot of money to live in this formerly wonderful city, that has taken some hits recently, and I think it’s terrible to be charging people that pay taxes who live here extra money when they cross 61st St,” said Samantha Popper, a 44-year-old stay-at-home-mom who lives nearby.

“It’s infuriating that in just another day we’ll be charged a hefty toll just to cross 61st, which is just in my neighborhood,” she added.

Her message to Gov. Kathy Hochul: “work a lot harder” to keep New Yorkers here and don’t “try to run them out of the city by up-charging them.”

Brian Anderson, a 42-year-old information technology specialist, said he lived in the city for over a decade but moved to New Jersey five years ago after being clocked in the face and knocked unconscious while reading a book on the subway.

He said he moved specifically to avoid using mass transit but now realizes that might no longer be an option financially.

“I’ll probably will be taking NJ Transit more often, and that’s no fun,” he said.

“Otherwise, it’s gonna cost me $30 to $40 just to get to the other side of the Hudson.“

Lyft driver Jose Siera ripped the scheme as a “money grab.”

“The tolls are going up also, bridges, they’re raising the prices also. It’s gonna suck,” he said.

And Uber driver Luigi said “the whole thing is a scam”

“People are not going to be driving their vehicles into the city,” he said.

“The taxi drivers, the Uber drivers, we are gonna put this cost on them — so you are punishing them.”

Hochul and the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority raced against the clock to impose the toll before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20. He has ripped congestion pricing as the “most regressive tax known to womankind.”

Trump joins the 51% of New Yorkers opposed to the controversial tax, while 29% support it, and another 20% are unsure, according to a Siena College poll earlier this month.

“This cash grab will only hurt commuters’ wallets and our local economy, and I’m already hearing from tons of people who say they’ll never go to Manhattan again, which will certainly have an impact on restaurants, the theater and small business,” said Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn).

The MTA claims the tolls are necessary to reduce pollution caused by gridlock and to raise $15 billion for mass transit upgrades, such as extending the Second Avenue subway, signal improvements and buying hundreds of new electric buses.

The agency is providing a $3 credit for passenger cars with EZPass that enter the toll zone through the Lincoln, Queens-Midtown, Hugh L. Carey or Holland tunnels during peak hours.

Drivers earning less than $50,000 can apply for a 50% discount for all trips after the first 10 in a calendar month.

The architects hope the plan will push more drivers to use public transit — but the rollout comes after 10 people were murdered in the subway system last year.

Opponents such as Susan Lee urged the MTA to first modernize the system and make it safer.

“I try to only go on the subway during rush hour because it’s not safe,” said Lee, a Chinatown activist and president of New Yorkers Against Congestion Pricing Tax.

The $9 “entry fee” would devastate Chinatown and other toll-zone neighborhoods such as Little Italy and the Lower East Side by driving up delivery costs and making travel too expensive for customers, she warned.

And the scheme has been met with fierce opposition by working-class commuters — including teachers and cops, firefighters and other first responders — who say they will unfairly have to bear the financial cost of the added tolls.

There’s at least 10 pending lawsuits opposing congestion tolling, but experts have said it’ll be more difficult to put the brakes on it once it’s up and running.

A federal judge on Friday shot down New Jersey’s emergency request to stop the new tolling program, and an appellate panel upheld the rejection Saturday.

The congestion tolls began slamming drivers the same day the Port Authority also raised prices for its bridges and tunnels.

For most vehicles, the new PA tolls will go up from $15.38 to $16.06 during peak hours, and $18.31 without E-ZPass.

Including congestion tolls, driver traveling into Manhattan from New Jersey through the Holland and Lincoln Tunnels will ultimately have to shell out $22.06 during peak hours and $31.81 if they don’t have E-ZPass.

Hochul abruptly paused the program before it was set to launch in June with a $15 toll following outcry from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and other pols who said it could doom Democratic candidates in suburban House seats.

She waited until after November’s general election before caving into the demands of car-hating environmental groups and other extremists before pushing her reduced $9 tolling scheme, which is scheduled to jump to $12 for most vehicles in 2028 and $15 in 2031.

The tolls are the first of their kind in the U.S, but London and some other cities around the world have rolled out similar programs.

Additional reporting by Khristina Narizhnaya and Marie Pohl.