toll or theft?
We finally moved into our new apartment about 2 weeks ago. It’s not “new”, but it’s new to us. It’s been a long time coming, and we’re happy to start settling in. There’s a ton of work to be done (understatement), but at least we get to transform the place into our own creation. I just hope we don’t go bankrupt in the process. :-)
During the move, we’ve been going back and forth between the New Jersey shore and Brooklyn. If you’re familiar with that route, you know the path goes across the Verrazano-Narrows bridge. I wasn’t familiar with it, and I hadn’t been across the Verrazano-Narrows in a long time. Imagine my surprise at the $9 toll to get into Staten Island from Brooklyn. Yes, $9. Unbelievable, but sadly true.
$9 is a hefty toll for even a beautifully upkept bridge, which the Verrazano-Narrows certainly isn’t (not to mention the long delays, horrible road conditions, and nasty pollution). I was curious about exactly where the money goes, so I started asking the toll booth clerks whenever I passed. Does the entire toll go toward maintenance of only the Verrazano-Narrows bridge? Is there a surplus? If so, does it go into a larger NYC fund? Does it go to only Staten Island? Nobody knew. The only response I got consistently was, “you always pay when you come to Staten Island”. Funny, maybe. But it didn’t answer my question, so I’ve been digging around. And today I found this article: congressional candidates duel over use of bridge toll (I uploaded a local copy just in case they take that article offline in the future: local version)
According to that article, the Verrazano-Narrows bridge generated a surplus of more than $267 million in 2005. That is a LOT of money. I’m torn between my own opinions of the situation, but at the end of the day I lean toward reducing the toll to an amount that doesn’t generate a surplus. And keep in mind that I’m a Brooklyn resident who has no need to drive regularly. If I were a Staten Island resident, and I had to drive back and forth across the Verrazano-Narrows regularly, I would be campaigning daily to have that toll reduced.