georgeberberian's Comments

We do not need a new agency that's an adjunct to the MTA. The MTA needs to become more transparent and held accountable for it's actions and spending. Creating a new fund and authority will only make things more opaque.

Creating jobs for Move NY is not a priority. Pass legislation that helps the MTA become a better organization, rather than one filled with pet projects and executives that are out of touch with the citizens who utilize their services.

I am incredibly incensed and upset that there is another attempt to levy a toll on the East River bridges.

I find it completely insulting that I, a long time New Yorker and Queens resident, may effectively be taxed by an additional toll on the East River Bridges, while those who commute from outside the New York area get a massive discount to enter into the city.

I also am vehemently opposed to the idea of congestion pricing below 60th Street in Manhattan, especially for friends who live in East Harlem and the Upper East Side. Once again, interests from OUTSIDE of NYC are trying to influence how monies are raised for their own pet projects rather than thinking about the impact on local citizens.

We do not need another tax on New Yorkers, many like myself, who are already feeling the pressure of rising costs of living here.

This plan will not lessen congestion at all. New York City is the economic, cultural and creative hub of New York State. There will always be traffic regardless of how much additional transport is created or charges are levied. This is just an attempt by persons in Albany to extort more funds from the residents of New York City, rather than spending the tax revenues raised on infrastructure.

I know plenty of New Yorkers who own cars either in Manhattan or in the boroughs. Perhaps they do not use them to commute to their jobs, but I do know of one man who drives from Battery Park City to Jersey for his job because he has too many problems with public transportation for it to be feasible. Also Nick, I don't know if you actually live in Manhattan, or even New York, but no New Yorker actually calls anything in Manhattan a "Central Business District." There is Midtown or the Financial Districts, and there are plenty of areas inbetween with commercial office space.

As for this increased revenue, how long will these improvements take, exactly? I live on the 7 line, which is being upgraded with the CBTC system. When I first started taking the line, it was incredible, but now the service has degraded since the multiple years of work, with what seems to be no end in sight. And once the system is in place and running, we will be blessed with 2 more trains per hour, which won't offset the current congestion on the line whatsoever, especially with all the new building going on. So Nick, I have very little faith in Move NY helping the MTA to do anything more than barely keep the systems running. In fact, if Governor Cuomo would get off his high horse and appropriate the monies needed for the MTA Capital Plans, we wouldn't be having these issues.

As for international plans for congestion, London was initially successful, but 10 years on, they are facing the same level of traffic as there had been initially. I wouldn't exactly call that a success.

And for those living near the East River crossings, let me tell you, it's a choice. It's a choice for anyone to live where they live. How does a collision affect a person who, as you blithely put it, just walks, bikes or uses the subway to get to work? I live not far from the junction of the BQE and ***, is there some noise? Yes. But I don't try to get legislation passed to divert or stop traffic on these important arteries because me and thousands of other people live by them. Perhaps you should also be advocating for that as well. The number of new buildings that have gone up around the BQE in Williamsburg must affect those citizens as well, yet they choose to live there.

This plan is misguided and overall, won't affect the quality of life in Manhattan but ruin it for all the boroughs with very little payoff. The idea that Move NY will be able to somehow do more than provide money to the current black holes of projects which take years to implement with limited success is not worth it.

Nick, I'm not sure what world you live in, but it isn't New York. BRT? So lanes suddenly free up because everyone is taking buses from places out in Long Island? Somehow there will be more trains added to all the LIRR lines to deal with the current overcrowding, or that magically, trains like the L will no longer be filled to the brim with people?

In the end, people are frustrated with the MTA's lack of better service and Governor Cuomo and Albany pushing the MTA to the brink financially.

Somehow, I don't thing these are really improvements at all. How many people in the boroughs live near LIRR and MNR stations? A City Ticket program is worthless to a person like me who is concerned about the over building of areas like Queen Plaza and Long Island City that is bringing thousands of new people to the area that are now relying on overburdened mass transit into Manhattan.

Adding more express buses may help those in the outlying areas, but I won't expect there to be a drop in traffic so significant that it would be any more efficient to get into Manhattan this way.

And if you're going to lower LIRR and MNR fares within New York, it's still quite expensive to do this twice a day on already overcrowded lines.

Overall, these are rather useless for the majority of New Yorkers that are affected by the new congestion and tolls.

There is no efficiency in setting up a new agency which is enacted to collect revenue, distribute monies and nothing more. Will it oversee these plans by each of the agencies? No. Will it make sure there won't be budget overruns? No. Can it stop disasters like the Bloomberg pet project of the 34 Street-Hudson Yards station that is now deteriorating because the MTA chose poor contractors? No. Will it be able to speed the creation of new transit options? No.

The current agencies need to be made more transparent and held accountable for how plans are implemented and monies are spent. The MNYHTA is nothing more than a cover for Governor Cuomo and a Republican legislature which are unwilling to give the MTA and other organizations the monies needed to keep the powerhouse of the state going. They would rather keep the tax revenue for their own purposes in the state budget and let New Yorkers assume the burden of additional tolls and fees under the guise of improving current services which should be funded by the state with OUR tax dollars.

I don't see why Manhattan residents should be penalized for owning cars. Again, I have friends who have cars in Manhattan. Some use them to get out of the city or just to transport themselves to the other boroughs. Others actually commute to work in Jersey. It's already expensive to own and park a car in Manhattan. Those I know use parking garages or pay for a space in their coop basements.

I thought the key idea of Move NY was to stop traffic from coming INTO Manhattan, not try to make it more onerous to own a cars by Manhattanites. It's bad enough that if my friends in East Harlem choose to go to Brooklyn to visit family, they will now be charged so many times, it's almost not worth the trip. Either that or they use the Triborough and then they're forced to use the already overloaded BQE. Seems like a lose-lose situation for my friends.

So why is it only the East River Bridges get the charges? Why not the Harlem River bridges as well? Also, why should those in Staten Island then get a special discount to use the Verrazano? Shouldn't you remove that exemption as well to maximize the amount of revenue you plan to raise? Why not have the Bronx and Staten Island pay up as well?

This is not a good plan at all. I live in NW Queens and find this plan to be an insult, especially as it has the word "fair" in it. I would like to know how making my toll on the Queensboro Bridge $8 is fair to me when commuters who do not live in the city then pay only $3 on the numerous other bridges? I LIVE AND WORK IN THIS CITY! Your initial propoganda mentions how the public is already paying so much in tolls and fares for roads and transit, yet somehow, this is not considered a toll? What about the burden of rising prices on goods and services across the city when the congestion plan is implemented? Nowhere is that mentioned in your literature. I don't think less gridlock for bicyclists will really offset the costs of living anywhere in the city at that point. As for the money being raised to help the MTA with the costs of roads, bridges and public transit, I think Move NY would do better to demystify the MTA's inner workings and budgets. I live on the 7 line, which has been undergoing CBTC modernization for years and it's not even close to being done. The irony is that the MTA is not even sure if this system is good for the other lines! They can't even install countdown timers properly because they are trying to rely on ANOTHER system which doesn't even work with the CBTC! Plus, don't even think that a measly $1.5B is enough to stop the MTA from raising transit fares on a regular basis.

I don't believe many of you at Move NY have been living in the City for very long, so your concerns are literally pedestrian. There's no consideration for people who must live and work around here who will be severly affected. It's nice that you want less traffic below 60 Street. I say raise the tolls higher on everything outside the City till it really hurts people driving in! Raise their fares from $8 to $15 each way and see how it slows it down. Sure, I'll still have to pay increases on goods and services, but the congestion really comes from too many cars on the road. Let persons commuting from LI, Westchester, Connecticut and NJ pay for the privilege of driving into the city, especially since they have plenty of transit options.

I also believe Move NY is an Albany plan made to burden those who live, work and commute to the City with the increased costs, rather than find a way to reinvest the tax dollars they already make from the City. Nobody in NYC calls the area south of 60 Street the "CBD." That smacks of elitist idealogues who have no idea how the city runs, but have spent time looking at charts and figures to determine the best way to make things "move" at the expense of those who have to live and work here.