Actually, if you live in Manhattan the idea of congestion pricing is nice. Chances are, you are well off and don't really care the few extra dollars your groceries and services will cost. You don't own a car anyway, but if you do, you can probably afford parking lots that charge a working mans rent in the outer Boroughs. So why not? Cleaner air, less noise, safer streets to cross all seem like admirable goals. Not bad.....if you have blinders on. Of course what the mayor fails to recognize is the adverse impact this plan will have on the rest of the city. Living in a Manhattnocentric universe one becomes oblivious to the plight of the common people. People in the Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and the Bronx need their cars. They don't need yet another unfair tax on the middle class. Public transportation is not a convenient alternative to everyone. Speaking as a man who takes the BQE almost every day I don't want to imagine what that will look like if even more traffic is forced there. It's already a nightmare during the day.
My friend in London told me about how the same plan works there. It's great for the downtown residents but everyone living just outside the exclusion zone is miserable. The haves and the have nots all over again. I'll tell you, if the city really wants to implement this plan what are they offering in return to the people? How about some huge parking garages in places near transportation hubs? That would only make sense. You want to increase mass transit, and that is an overall worthy goal but you must help the process along. The function of the government is to help it's citizenry, not make life harder as city officials seem to continually do.
