• Kichae@lemmy.ca
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    8 hours ago

    Someone should tell these people about gasoline (or electricity) if they think “having to pay to use your car” is an insane notion.

  • Dasus@lemmy.world
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    8 hours ago

    I asked Google and told me that’s like one mile distance.

    This fucker is serious that he has no other way of traveling that then by car?

    I bet taking the car actually takes longer if there’s any traffic at all.

  • Roopappy@lemmy.world
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    20 hours ago

    Driving in Manhattan is for truck deliveries and taxis only.

    If you try to drive a car from point to point in Manhattan, you’re an asshole.

    • Malfeasant@lemm.ee
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      7 hours ago

      25 years ago, I felt safer riding a bicycle in Manhattan than I did in Boston…

    • Zement@feddit.nl
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      14 hours ago

      That goes for every densely populated city. In Europe we have similar problems and still there are those SUV Assholes driving their cars in areas even delivery vehicles fear to enter. (Imagine Roads made for horse carriages… they are now one way and barely fit those dick extensions)

  • Kcs8v6@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    What I’ve read says that you aren’t charged unless you cross the boundary. If you reside inside the zone and never leave and enter again, you won’t be charged a toll.

      • m0darn@lemmy.ca
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        2 hours ago

        I think his complaint is that he lives outside the boundary (on 61st at 5th) but that because of one way streets he is forced into the tolled area even if he wants to go the other way.

  • just_an_average_joe@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    1 day ago

    Congestion fees are a very capitalist way of solving it. This law basically exists for everyone except rich people (i,e. Those who can afford to pay fees).

    All this is based on a false assumption that money has an objective value. But in reality, 1$ means different things for different classes.

    • WeUnite@lemm.ee
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      14 hours ago

      According to Wikipedia “Low-income residents receive a 50 percent discount on daytime tolls after their first ten trips into the congestion zone in a calendar month”. So to some extent the system does take your concern into account.

      • Dasus@lemmy.world
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        8 hours ago

        Well it pretends to but no system like that will equalise it.

        Do the same as we do with fines, based on income.

        So that the congestion charge for a billionaire is also actually significant. Enough for then to reconsider using a car.

        • rbesfe@lemmy.ca
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          4 hours ago

          Billionaires using cars aren’t the ones causing congestion though, there just aren’t enough of them

          • Dasus@lemmy.world
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            3 hours ago

            No, but it’s tied to your income, so it doesn’t matter what you make. Poor people should have it practically for free (but still for a small nominal fee) as they’re often completely broke. Someone making an average salary should pay an average sum, a wealthy person should pay more and an ultrawealthy person should pay even more.

            https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/06/finnish-businessman-hit-with-121000-speeding-fine

            That’s one of the world’s largest speeding fines, and that guy isn’t actually even that rich. Like he’s barely in double digit millions. That’s honestly not that rich on a global scale.

            I tried looking for someone with “just” ten times the estimated net worth, so someone worth 100 million. But top 25 richest hollywood actors and #25 is still 170 million. When the fines grow progressively, then those people would pay something like 4-5 million in a fine, probably.

            Like when you get a fine of any sorts, unless it’s for a very basic infraction, it’s going to be day fines. So if you commit an infraction that you don’t go to prison for or get probation, you’ll have day fines. A day fine is equal to roughly your daily income. You can get 1-120 dayfines for an infraction and if you’re getting multiple infractions at the same time it’s at most 240 day fines.

            The point here is that it would actually be good tax income and it would remove the effect of any regulations being cheaper to break for rich people, which is inherently very unjust.

    • Zetta@mander.xyz
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      21 hours ago

      Yes but the money goes 100% to public transit so it benefits the lower income public transport commuters too.

          • frayedpickles@lemmy.cafe
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            11 hours ago

            Ah, you’re new! Hello! Ga ga goo goo! Goo Goo ga ga!

            There are transit cops, cops who are on the payroll of a transit system. There are also politicians who lie about where money goes, so they say “we’re investing 100% in MTA to make the system safer for you and your family” and they mean they are giving money to NYPD with some requirement they have 1 more cop at a transit terminal. As another fine example, check out states where lottery funds go to “public schools”.

            • stephen01king@lemmy.zip
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              9 hours ago

              I don’t understand the need to belittle anyone that lacks information or is ignorant. Were you born with all the information you have right now?

              • frayedpickles@lemmy.cafe
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                7 hours ago

                No, in fact I quite literally in my message acknowledged they were new and didn’t have that information. Like, the thing you’re asking is actually in my message. Sure, there’s also some belittling for flavor, but life is boring if you don’t insult people on the internet.

                • stephen01king@lemmy.zip
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                  5 hours ago

                  Sounds like you just lead a boring life if you rely on insulting strangers on the Internet for some spice.

    • Coriza@lemmy.world
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      22 hours ago

      I mean, you are right and the fee should be proportional to wealth, but it is not gonna affect the poor people because they use the public transit. Maybe anywhere else in the US may be true that “even the homeless need/have a car” but NYC would be the exception.

  • Gammelfisch@lemmy.world
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    21 hours ago

    Public transportation in the USA sucks shit and it should be improved before unleashing a congestion toll.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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      11 hours ago

      My brother lived way out in Brooklyn and commuted to Manhattan for decades. Never had a car the entire time. Apparently New York’s public transportation isn’t a big issue.

    • WeUnite@lemm.ee
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      14 hours ago

      Don’t put the cart before the horse. The Wikipedia article says that “The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) estimates $15 billion in available capital will be generated by bonding revenues from the tolls, which will be available to fund repairs and improvements to the subway, bus, and commuter rail systems.”

  • buzz86us@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    Awww he might have to go on the big scary subway and desk with the poors… A sad day indeed

  • Blackmist@feddit.uk
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    2 days ago

    I looked on the map. That overlooks Central Park.

    If your home overlooks Central Park, I’m pretty sure you can afford a congestion charge.

  • leadore@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    His kids live on 79th street and he will have to pay congestion price every time he goes to see them.

    So like, what, Christmas and their birthdays?

    • Tobberone@lemm.ee
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      2 days ago

      That was my first thought as well. Why doesn’t his kids want to live with him?

  • boonhet@lemm.ee
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    2 days ago

    Love how this is in the one US city where you need a car the least as far as I know. You’ve got the subway, the sidewalks, cabs… I mean sure, the latter exists in the form of ride sharing apps basically everywhere now, but NYC had cabs even in old movies. Though I suspect most other cities of any real size had them as well

    • Malfeasant@lemm.ee
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      6 hours ago

      I had a girlfriend from Phoenix who was surprised you could hail a cab on the street in Boston, she thought that only happened in NYC…

    • Madison420@lemmy.world
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      22 hours ago

      I dunno about NYC but Chicago has a pretty large and diverse public transit system.

      That said the first bus I got onto in Chicago clearly hit a parked car that was too far over the line and the driver just sorta shrugged and kept on truckin’.

    • MrsDoyle@sh.itjust.works
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      22 hours ago

      There are buses too. Last time I visited NYC I used buses all the time. They were clean, frequent, cheap, and I had great conversations with other passengers. 10/10.

  • bamboo
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    2 days ago

    The congestion zone starts at 60th Street and heads south, so traveling from 61st - 79th street won’t even encounter the congestion pricing. This guy is dumb on so many levels.

    EDIT: I just looked it up on a map and 61st is a one way going west towards Central Park, so if you enter 61st from Madison Ave, you’re forced to exit at 5th Ave and go south entering the zone, which I guess is this guy’s problem?. I also looked up the guy and he’s a CEO Real Estate developer, so he’s living in a multi-million dollar place right next to Central Park and can’t afford to pay $9 because his private parking spot in his building forces him to drive into the congestion pricing zone. Come on!

    • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      Wait, it’s 9 dollars?

      Oh my God. I thought it was cheap. This poor bastard, does he have a GoFundMe I can donate to? This is highway robbery, it’s going to drive him straight to the poor house or worse the public transportation system!

    • thessnake03@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      Maybe he’s a shady CEO scared his shit business practices will get him capped so he avoids all public transit.

  • DaddleDew@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    Dude: “I wish traffic in my area wasn’t so bad”

    Genie: “Ok, people driving in your area will be financially penalized for using their car instead of public transit, therefore alleviating traffic.”

    Dude: “hey wait, I want an exception made for me! I am special. I am the main character, I should be the only one driving a car!”

    Genie: “That was your third wish. Goodbye.”

  • vortic@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    I was wondering if there was more to the story. Like, maybe he has a disability and NYC doesn’t have an exemption for disabilities. They do, however, have an exemption for disabilities as well as a reduced rate for low income residents. To me it sounds like this guy is just lazy.

    Looking at this on Google Maps, he can get anywhere on 76th St using one bus or subway ride and a 5-10 minute walk.

    Zero sympathy.

    • nandeEbisu@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      Wow, I can’t believe you’d suggest subjecting this poor man to something as horrible as being forced to use a public bus.

      • Malfeasant@lemm.ee
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        4 hours ago

        Reminds me of the time I worked at the Sears repair call center… A woman who lived on the island of Nantucket needed her washing machine repaired - Sears only went out there two days a week, and they were booked for a couple weeks, so of course she asked “what am I supposed to do until then?” I suggested a laundromat. “Have you seen the kind of people who go to the laundromat?” I said “yup, I’m there once a week.” Was quite proud of myself, usually I don’t think of the perfect response until minutes later…

      • samus12345@lemm.ee
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        2 days ago

        “Ahh, the old number 22. Clean, reliable public transportation. The chariot of the people. The ride of choice for the poor and very poor alike!”

        • sem
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          2 days ago

          Sometimes when I ride the bus I’m uncomfortable with how my country fails the least fortunate

          • Skunk@jlai.lu
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            2 days ago

            A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars. It’s where the rich use public transportation. (mayor of Bogotá, Enrique Peñalosa)

            • yessikg
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              6 hours ago

              Colombia has really been doing great stuff in their cities