New York City will make its citizens choose between paying additional fees to drive into lower Manhattan with congestion pricing, or having to take a dangerous and unclean subway.
The New York City Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) on Monday approved a $9 congestion toll for cars entering Manhattan neighborhoods south of 60th street starting Jan. 5, 2025, according to ABC 7. The plan, proposed by Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, aims to reduce traffic while also raising money for and encouraging use of the subway system that spans the city. However, the New York subway remains dangerous, as violent crime levels in the metro remain above their 2019 levels, according to a June analysis of city crime data by VitalCity.
“The people who have to drive to the city, ladies and gentlemen, these are people that don’t have the means to get on the train, they work at different hours, they work at different locations, you know, these are not the titans of industry,” Hempstead Town Supervisor Donald Clavin told ABC 7.
Violent crime per rider on the metro remains about 40% higher in 2023 compared to 2019, according to VitalCity. Any rider has a one in 30 chance of witnessing a violent crime unfolding over the course of a year.
In 2023, there were 1,120 violent crime incidents reported on the subway, according to city crime data.
Over half of NYC subway riders feel unsafe using the service, a MTA survey taken April 18 to May 12, 2024 found. When asked what would increase their satisfaction with the service, 47% said dealing with fewer “people behaving erratically” would make them happier with the subway.
Half of customers are also dissatisfied with the cleanliness of the subway, according to the survey. Moreover, 77% cited homelessness as a major factor in their dissatisfaction.
The new measure adopted by the city would hike toll prices from 9$ to 15$ in 2031, according to ABC 7. Hochul initially put her plans on hold in June, which would have set the price at $15 immediately.
“As I said from the start, a $15 toll was just too high in this economic climate. That’s why our plan cuts the daytime toll to $9 for cars,” Hochul said in a press release Nov. 14. “By getting congestion pricing underway and fully supporting the MTA capital plan, we’ll unclog our streets, reduce pollution and deliver better public transit for millions of New Yorkers.”
Homelessness has also persisted as a major problem for the subway system, as nearly half of all homeless in the city live in the subway system, according to 2024 city data.
The subway’s degeneration entered the national spotlight when Daniel Penny, former U.S. Marine, allegedly killed a homeless man with a choke hold after the man was acting “in an aggressive manner” towards passengers and threatening violence. Penny was charged with second-degree manslaughter for his actions, and has since pleaded not guilty.
Hochul deployed 750 state National Guard troops and 250 state troopers in March to secure the subway stations. Despite the move, a man was shot in the head that month while en route to Brooklyn.
The funds generated by the new toll will support a $15 billion MTA project on improvements to the subway, as well as improving air quality in “environmental justice” communities, according to Hochul’s press release.
President-elect Donald Trump has expressed his opposition to the plan, saying the tax was the “most regressive tax known to womankind,” the New York Post reported. Town supervisors in Long Island have also called on Trump to quash the proposal, according to ABC 7.
Hochul and Adams’ office did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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