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Frustration mounts among Queensboro Bridge drivers hit with NYC congestion pricing toll
By
Stephen Nessen
Published Jan 17, 2025
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James Leynse/Corbis via Getty Images
By
Stephen Nessen
Published Jan 17, 2025
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Now that congestion pricing is in effect, drivers are discovering a quirk of the Queensboro Bridge that tolls them even if they don’t want to enter the zone south of 60th Street – and they’re furious.
Drivers entering Manhattan from Queens who take the lower roadway and travel north briefly cross 60th Street, meaning they still have to pay the $9 daytime toll. Likewise, drivers leaving Manhattan from the Upper East Side must enter the zone at 59th Street to get on the Queensboro Bridge, also costing them $9 during the day.
“It’s a sneaky device,” eastern Queens driver Jonathan Kahn told Gothamist.
Kahn often drives to hospitals north of the zone for medical appointments and couldn’t understand why he’s being tolled for merely crossing 60th Street.
“ It’s a sleight of hand by a public agency,” he said.
Gothamist first reported on the different tolling scenarios for drivers on the Queensboro Bridge's upper and lower roadways in April. The tolls were turned on earlier this month and resulted in 43,000 fewer drivers on the road each weekday, according to preliminary MTA data released Monday.
Public Advocate Jumaane Williams said on Friday that he had heard complaints like Kahn’s and called on the MTA to change the tolls around the bridge.
“ People are calling it the most expensive block in Manhattan,” he told Gothamist. “You literally cannot get on the bridge without that roadway.”
MTA officials said there’s nothing they can do about the Queensboro Bridge issues. The 2019 state law that allows the agency to toll drivers in Manhattan specifies the geography of the tolling zone. State lawmakers would need to amend the law.
“The law passed five years ago that established the Congestion Relief Zone set the boundary as Manhattan south of and including 60th Street, except for the FDR Drive and West Side Highway. The location of toll points aligns exactly,” MTA spokesperson Aaron Donovan wrote in a statement.
Williams, who supports the tolling program, thinks there’s more that can be done.
“There's also a human element of how you apply it that can fix where the [tolling] camera is situated,” he said.
Williams also said there should be better signage in Queens to notify drivers about which road will incur a toll.
Tagged
queens
manhattan
transportation
Stephen Nessen
Stephen Nessen covers transportation. Since 2008 he has reported on everything from Occupy Wall Street, the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, Hurricane Sandy, to Trump’s campaign for president. His transportation reporting has taken him everywhere from the MTA’s secret Rail Control Center to the gleaming subways of Seoul. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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