Welp, it happened, folks. After months of public belly-aching and enough grassroots litigation to fill a law textbook, New York City's plan to implement London and Paris-style congestion charging in the most highly traffic-ridden portions of Manhattan's Central Business District is now, for the moment, dead in its tracks. Via an official decree from New York's Governor Kathy Hochul, the indefinite pushback of a program set to charge New Yorkers $15 at peak hours to drive from 60th Street south through Manhattan is being met with praise by some, but not by all.
Depending on which side of the pro-auto vs. anti-auto side of the New York City paradigm you stand on, you might even be angry the congestion charge program isn't coming as expected. For the kind of people who stand antithetical to motor vehicles clogging up major cities, the furlough of Manhattan's congestion charging plans is a travesty, a total affront to everything they hold dear regarding how they'd like their city to run. There's a definite polarization in the air about whether axing congestion charging is "le good" or "le bad." But let's do our best with a mix of facts, figures, and a little bit of personal insight to break down both sides.
Read Article