New York’s punitive $9 tax penalty on drivers entering Manhattan began Sunday, defying a flurry of a last-minute legal challenges in the process.
Commuters from other states and boroughs already pay around $15 in bridge and tunnel tolls — and the congestion fee will come on top of that.
Passenger vehicles now entering the “congestion relief zone” in Manhattan, defined as local streets and avenues at or below 60th Street, will be charged the $9 toll during peak hours.
The tolls will apply at four tunnels leading into the Big Apple — the Lincoln Tunnel, Holland Tunnel, Hugh L. Carey Tunnel and Queens Midtown Tunnel.
Officially bestowed with the benign title of “congestion pricing,” the tolling is designed to reduce traffic gridlock in the densely packed city while pushing drivers to abandon their cars and take public transit alternatives including the city’s…
