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Drivers Protest Verrazano Bridge Toll with Pennies
By
John Del Signore
Published May 19, 2009
Modified May 19, 2009
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By
John Del Signore
Published May 19, 2009
Modified May 19, 2009
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About two dozen toll-tally fed up Staten Islanders disrupted traffic at the Verrazano Bridge toll booths for about 20 minutes yesterday by slowly paying the $10 toll in pennies to protest an imminent increase. 40-year-old Scott LoBaido led the motorcade to the lower-level midspan, where he climbed up on his 1989 Chevy Suburban's roof, blasted "Battle Hymn of the Republic" from the car stereo, and yelled, "Come on! Honk your horns!" The Verrazano cash toll will go up to $11 on July 12th, the E-ZPass toll will rise to $9.14, and the discounted E-ZPass toll for Staten Island residents will rise to $5.48. Explaining the protest to the Post, toll opponent Genevieve Grecco said, "You can't mess with Staten Island. We are going to make a fuss. We are human beings, not bank accounts you can constantly draw from." And another protester, Tina Bellino, unrolled the $10 worth of pennies she'd obtained from the bank and sprinkled them into several sandwich bags, telling the Staten Island Advance, "You didn't think I was going to make it easy for them [to count], did you?" Check out Fox News some has some great video interviews with the demonstrators.
Tagged
pennies
protest
toll
verrazano bridge
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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