Battle Over Congestion Pricing Proposal Continues, Now on Two Fronts

New York Times
By KEN BELSON and DAVID W. CHEN
Published: April 3, 2008

Three centuries ago, when boats sailing through the Narrows wanted to drop anchor on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River, they had to first pay a monetary ?tribute? to the powers that be in New York.

Mayor Presses for $8 Fee for Drivers to Enter Parts of Manhattan (April 3, 2008)

Now, Gov. Jon S. Corzine of New Jersey is balking at New York City?s proposal to charge the figurative descendants of those shippers ? namely, drivers who use the Holland and Lincoln Tunnels ? an extra $3 or $4 to cross the Hudson and land in Manhattan.

The proposal is part of the city?s congestion pricing plan, which would establish an $8 fee to drive in the area below 60th Street between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. on weekdays. Though the plan has yet to be approved by the New York State Legislature, Governor Corzine?s ire was provoked this week by City Council?s approval of a proposal to impose the surcharge unless the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey contributes $1 billion to mass transit projects in the city.

On Tuesday, the normally understated and businesslike Mr. Corzine said he was ?dismayed? by New York?s ?outrageous action? and threatened to sue his neighbor to the east if it followed through with the surcharge. Drivers from New Jersey now pay $8 during peak hours on the Hudson River crossings and $6 during off-peak hours; the surcharges would effectively raise the tolls to $11 during peak hours and $10 during off-peak hours.

This toll fight might seem like just the latest skirmish in the centuries-old bistate battle that has long cast New York as the aggressor and New Jersey as the besieged. (Governor Corzine has recently defended his shores against perceived slights and encroachments by other states as well.)

But the saber-rattling may ring hollow with the people Mr. Corzine is trying to protect, given that the cornerstone of his efforts to overhaul the state?s finances is an extremely unpopular plan to raise tolls on state highways as much as 800 percent by 2022.

?I can?t help but believe that this was a way to deflect a little attention away from his turnpike and budget proposals ? this is a way to put the cape on and play the hero,? said Dennis E. Gale, a professor of political science at Rutgers University and an author of a book on historical tensions between the states.

?The historical psychology of New Jerseyans is living in the shadow of Gotham, at the mercy of New York, going back to colonial days,? Professor Gale said. ?When you have two states separated by a skinny river, you set up this endless bickering.?

New Jersey?s leaders throughout the generations have earned their stripes by trying to fend off neighboring states? policies, Mr. Gale said. In the 1800s, New Jersey fought a decision by New York to grant Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt an exclusive franchise to run ferries across the Hudson. More than a century later, however, New York yelled foul when New Jersey lured the Giants, Jets and Nets across the river.

In 1987, after the Giants won their first Super Bowl, Mayor Edward I. Koch denied the team a ticker-tape parade in Manhattan, calling it a ?foreign team? for moving to New Jersey a decade before. The team countered with a party in a parking lot outside their stadium in the Meadowlands.

The fights continued, with one over the ultimate symbol of American amity: Later in 1987, United States Representative James J. Howard, a New Jersey Democrat, considered introducing a bill directing the Army Corps of Engineers ?to reverse the position of the Statue of Liberty? so her back side would face New York.

Mr. Koch, the ultimate New York cheerleader, responded: ?The Statue of Liberty will continue to stand exactly where she has stood for 100 years ? on an island belonging to the State of New York, facing us and showing another side of her personality to New Jersey.?

Another border skirmish heated up last year over the harvesting of clams in Raritan Bay. Clammers and officials in New York complained that New Jersey was looking the other way as its baymen wandered across the state line and dug in New York.

Mr. Corzine has also done battle with Gov. Edward G. Rendell of Pennsylvania (who, after all, is a native New Yorker) over the financing and environmental implications of a plan to deepen the Delaware River for larger cargo ships and oil tankers.

The latest scuffle is surprising partly because, in general, Governor Corzine has championed financing for mass transit. He has also been on good terms with Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and New York?s governors, with whom he shares veto power over decisions made at the authority.

Still, administration officials in Trenton who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that Mr. Corzine was genuinely surprised by the New York City Council?s vote Monday on legislation calling for the surcharge, and that no one had consulted him. He was also troubled by the notion that the City Council and lawmakers in Albany appeared to want to unilaterally make decisions, or pressure the Port Authority, a bistate agency.

?This came out of the blue in a way that suggested that they were discriminating against New Jersey drivers,? said one official who was not authorized to go beyond what the governor stated publicly. ?This would be a sea change in governance.?

Officials in New York City and in Albany say Mr. Corzine should not have been shocked. Lawmakers in New York have been arguing for months that drivers from New Jersey should contribute to the city?s congestion pricing plan, and the notion of a surcharge on the Port Authority crossings is not new.

?Corzine did politically what he had to do,? said one New York state official with knowledge of the negotiations, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on behalf of the administration. ?He has to protect his voters.?

That official also noted that drivers who live in Rockland and Orange Counties, in New York State, might also be subject to the surcharge.

A spokesman for Mayor Bloomberg, John Gallagher, said Mr. Corzine seemed to have a ?double standard? when it comes to tolls. ?We don?t understand why it?s O.K. for the New Jersey governor to hike tolls on New York cars on the turnpike and parkway to balance his state?s budget,? he said, ?but New York can?t raise revenue dedicated expressly for mass transit improvements for commuters across the region.?

Carolyn Wilder contributed reporting.

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Healy, Ramos split on Hudson toll hike

Thursday, April 03, 2008
By CARLY BALDWIN
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

At least a couple of Hudson County politicians are divided on the New York-New Jersey border war over congestion pricing.

Assemblyman Ruben Ramos, D-Hoboken, also a Hoboken councilman, sent a letter to New York Gov. David Paterson yesterday, voicing his disapproval of a proposed amendment to New York's congestion pricing plan that could take an extra $4 daily out of the pockets of some New Jersey commuters.

"I am dismayed to learn of a recently proposed congestion-pricing plan that would impose an extra $3 to $4 toll on New Jersey drivers," Ramos said in the letter. "Clearly, this fee is exorbitant, especially after the recent toll hikes on crossings into New York City from New Jersey."

Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, however, supports New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's plan.

"I think the mayor's goal is a laudable one and the means of achieving it are reasonable," said Healy yesterday. "Three to four dollars is getting a little painful. But it's also perfectly understandable that Bloomberg wants to address the problem of congestion in his city."

Bloomberg first suggested congestion pricing as a way to reduce traffic and air pollution, with the funds generated from fees going toward public transportation improvements in Manhattan. The original plan would have imposed an $8 fee on all cars ($21 for trucks) entering Manhattan from 60th street and below between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. on weekdays.

Cars entering Manhattan through the Holland and Lincoln tunnels already pay a toll, so they were excluded from paying in the original plan.

But New York officials are considering a new plan, unless the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey commits $1 billion toward transportation improvements in New York City.

Under the new proposal, New Jersey drivers entering the Holland and Lincoln tunnels would pay additional fees- $3 during peak hours, and $4 during off-peak hours.

Ramos says New Jersey drivers are being unfairly targeted.

"It is unreasonable to exempt a New York state commuter or other non-New Jersey commuters from paying their fair share for such improvements," said Ramos, who said he would support any action taken by New Jersey to thwart the plan.

Gov. Jon Corzine has said he would file a lawsuit if the Hudson River crossing fees are approved in the New York state legislature.