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Lesser of Two Evils May Rescue MTA

NEW YORK CITY-The Assembly speaker says an MTA savior compromise that would charge cars $2 to cross into Manhattan appears headed for passage.

By Cody Lyon | Updated on March 01, 2009

NEW YORK CITY-Calling it the lesser of two evils, New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver defended a legislative compromise proposal whereby cars would be charged a $2 toll when crossing the East and Harlem Rivers on currently toll-free bridges into Manhattan. Sheldon talked up the compromise this past Friday afternoon in Lower Manhattan, touting the plan as a savior of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which has said it intends to impose fare hikes and drastic service cuts unless the Legislature acts soon.

The $2 toll, half the amount originally proposed by former MTA chair Richard Ravitch’s commission, is part of an emergency plan to shore up the transit agency’s finances, which face a $1.4-billion budget gap. That deficit is expected to grow to $3 billion by 2012.

In addition to the tolls, the Ravitch plan calls for a one-third of 1% payroll tax on all employees in every county served by the transit authority. Reportedly, after initial opposition to the higher bridge tolls, the Legislature and Governor now appear near a solution.

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