Staten Island BP
  • Home
  • BP Office
  • News
  • Community Events
  • Social
  • Contact
  • Home
  • BP Office
  • News
  • Community Events
  • Social
  • Contact

NEWS

Borough President Vito Fossella Lays Foundation For Lawsuit Over Congestion Pricing Plan

7/23/2023

 
Picture
Borough President Vito Fossella announced that he is laying the foundation for a lawsuit against the entities responsible for the implementation of congestion pricing.

“We're here to stand up and be the voice of many across Staten Island, and I believe across the state, and not to mention the region, to put the brakes on the so-called congestion pricing plan,” said Borough President Fossella during a press conference on the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Boardwalk in South Beach –- the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge in the background. “We say so-called because we believe congestion pricing is really a fancy way of calling this plan what it really is and that’s a ‘driving tax’ on individuals who already paid to build and maintain the roads.”

His announcement was made following a lawsuit filed by New Jersey against the U.S. Department of Justice on Friday. He spoke with Randy Mastro, the attorney who filed the lawsuit on behalf of New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy.

“We hope that New Jersey is successful in its efforts, regardless we plan to bring our own lawsuit to address this congestion pricing plan,” he said.

The congestion pricing plan will cost drivers between $9 to $23 to enter Manhattan below 60th Street and is expected to generate $15 billion over four years for MTA improvements.

“As many of you know, we don’t even have a subway system,” said Borough President Fossella. “So, here we are a car-dependent community that has been left out of every major decision the MTA has laid out over the last 50-plus years and now we’re forced to pay another toll."

He said residents of Staten Island, as well Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx, “will be treated as tourists in this city and not as equal citizens.” The “driving tax” also comes with negative environmental impacts, he said, citing a federal government report that states “the air quality will get worse as a result of this plan.”

“You’d have to be a first-class idiot to support any plan that intentionally hurts your neighbors, and your constituents, both from a financial and environmental perspective,” said Borough President Fossella.
Picture

Comments are closed.

    Search

    June 2025
    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022

    Media Inquiries

    Please contact the Department of Communications:

    ​
    Nicholas Thompson: [email protected]
    718-816- 2115

    Stephanie Slepian:
    [email protected]
    ​718-816-2136





    borough board
Office of Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella  •  10 Richmond Terrace  •  Staten Island, NY 10301  •  718-816-2000
ACCESSIBILITY STATEMENT