New ‘Congestion Relief Tolling’ Treats New Yorkers Like Guinea Pigs for a Failing Progressive Agenda that Just Won’t Quit

With corrupt politicians and never-ending red tape bleeding its citizens dry, it’s only a matter of time before the Big Apple becomes America’s first 15-minute city.

On January 5th, the MTA unveiled America’s first “Congestion Relief Zone.” Under this new regulation, commuters entering Manhattan south of 60th Street will have to pay a tax of $9. The vast majority of New Yorkers won’t be able to avoid this toll during their commutes, as the peak period toll rate applies from 5am to 9pm on weekdays, and from 9am to 9pm on weekends. The MTA and Albany politicians are championing this new addition to New York City’s over-regulated landscape, claiming it will result in 80,000 fewer vehicles driving through Manhattan every day, which they hope will lead to lower traffic congestion and fewer fossil fuel emissions from idling cars, creating a cleaner, safer New York City.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority recognized how bumber-to-bumber traffic was costing upwards of $20 billion a year in lost productivity and thought the best way to alleviate New Yorkers’ financial burden was to charge them more for their daily commute.

But New York politicians are expecting you to thank them. Governor Kathy Hochul (D-NY) was quick to let us know that this new tolling would actually save New Yorkers money—$1,500 a year to be exact—after she compassionately decided to lower the initial proposed cost from $15 per toll, to just $9. If it weren’t for politicians, who would offer us solutions to the problems they themselves created?

Hochul and others are claiming this new toll will also help fund the MTA, which has been hemorrhaging funds and in need of paying off a $33 billion deficit. With the MTA looking to inject taxpayer funds into its bloated $68 billion five-year capital plan, it doesn’t seem as if an infusion of over $6 million a day in “Congestion Relief” tolling will make much of a difference.

Hochul already sees the writing on the wall; despite forcing New Yorkers to pay additional tolls for their daily commutes to work, school, and loved one’s homes, the Governor is flirting with hiking other fees, increasing the payroll mobility tax, and generally making New York more expensive to live in.

Unfortunately for New Yorkers, despite the rise in the cost of living, their hard-earned money is going anywhere but services to make life easier in the Big Apple.

Taxpayer Funds For Everything But New Yorkers

Hochul and other New York Democrats claim the spike in living costs will make New York a safer, healthier, and more prosperous state for all. If that were the case, the state wouldn’t have seen over half a million of its citizens fleeing to free states like Florida and Texas back in 2022. In reality, New York is becoming quite the nanny state; it caters to criminals, illegal migrants, and practically anyone who is not a taxpayer at the expense of working class New Yorkers who are left to foot a hefty bill.

According to the NY State Comptroller, the State spent a total of 1.4 billion in agency funds on “asylum seekers” through December 31, 2024. Meanwhile, the City of New York spent $3.76 billion in Fiscal Year 2024. In fact, in the attempt to free up their overcrowded homeless shelters, NYC’s Department of Homeless Services quietly offered 150 migrant families $4,000 each to resettle into permanent housing, and has even distributed prepaid debit cards for migrants to buy groceries. This Samaritan behavior continues despite the fact that NYC is harboring almost 60,000 illegals who are convicted of or are facing criminal charges. Hochul and her allies see no issue with condoning such behavior by shelling out billions in taxpayer dollars to those who actively break our laws and make our cities less safe.

It must not be an important issue. Despite the numerous, recent viral headlines of subway assaults and murders at the hands of career criminals and illegal aliens, Hochul has been largely silent on the matter. In fact, the Governor and the MTA have both been busy gaslighting the public into thinking New York is America’s safest metropolis, while reality paints everyone else a much starker picture. Need we be reminded of the rampant lawlessness which emerged nationwide since 2020?

The State Knows Best—It’s For Your Safety

New York is certainly becoming one of, if not the worst, places to live in the United States. From untenable rent prices, to costly groceries, to trash-filled streets and violent crime, to an income tax rate that would make the Founding Fathers roll over in their graves, people have had enough. Hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers have fled their home for greener pastures. Meanwhile, New York lawmakers have been busy creating incentives to bring them back: price hikes and punishing law abiding citizens while criminals do as they please. It appears that with each new restriction, toll, and price hike, New York City is starting to look like a 15-minute city, one where you are told where you can go, when, and for what reason.

Hochul and allies tell us how this new congestion relief tolling will help bring about “[l]ess traffic […] cleaner air, safer streets, and better transit” all by “encouraging” Americans to restrict their movement with a commuter penalty. This is not a new idea; 15-minute cities have been championed throughout the world, promising to increase people’s “quality of life,” while reducing carbon emissions. Sound familiar? What better way to bring about a green future than by restricting people’s movement and dictating where they can and cannot go?

Unlike that untenable utopia, American politicians’ constant promises of healthier, safer living fall largely on deaf ears. Despite the news pieces, the skewed data, and the polished press releases, establishment politicians have done anything but make our lives easier.

Having doubts? Just look to New York: they are “safer,” “wealthier,” and more “green” than ever before, and all they have to show for it are overpriced tolls and crime scenes littering their subways.