NYC congestion pricing turns upper Manhattan nabes into parking ‘war zone’ — as drivers take up spots to avoid toll
It’s hell on wheels.
Upper Manhattan nabes are already devolving into glorified parking lots only days after the MTA and Gov. Hochul flipped the switch on congestion pricing — with bridge-and-tunnel commuters increasingly ditching their vehicles uptown to skirt the $9 toll, outraged residents told The Post
Across Washington Heights, locals bemoaned that their already-scarce curbside parking spaces have further vanished in recent days, with many now burning hours trying to track down a precious spot.
“’Good luck to everyone,’ that’s what I say,” nurse Thomas Hurt, 36, told The Post. “Now [these commuters] are right here along with us, trying to fight it out.”
After coming home from his shift at a Montefiore hospital in the Bronx Wednesday, Hurt circled for two hours seaching for a spot — and saw at least 20 New Jersey-plated cars hogging spaces between West 174th and West 181st streets.
Over the past year, residents in the neighborhoods outside the 60th Street congestion zone have repeatedly warned that their communities would be plagued with hellish gridlock and increased pollution from meandering motorists.
“It’s gotten worse in the past week. A lot of people from Jersey, they take the bridge, park here, and take the subways down,” said Cristian Romarion, 48, a project manager, who double-parked his Jeep Wrangler while waiting for a spot to open up.
“People fight for parking here . . . like, physically fight for parking. It’s crazy,” he continued, adding that he’s witnessed scraps “almost every day” since congestion pricing took effect.
Follow along with The Post's coverage of Manhattan's new congestion pricing
- New York became the most expensive city to drive in when its congestion pricing began Sunday. New Yorkers now must pay $9 to drive below 60th Street during peak hours.
- Some drivers have begun concealing their plates in an effort to avoid the toll. Some residents of the area are saddled with the cost whenever they want to take their car out.
- Businesses, like funeral homes, have begun shifting the cost to customers. Rideshare app Lyft raised its CitiBike prices for New Yorkers hoping to avoid taking a car. The FDNY union and EMT union claim that congestion pricing will slow down their response times, as well.
- Many New Yorkers are skeptical about congestion pricing’s effects, especially after multiple publicized crimes on the subway in recent weeks. Drivers are expected to dump their cars above the zone, making parking more difficult uptown.
On the Upper West Side, the desperate hunt for a parking spot has similarly turned the nabe into a “war zone,” doorman Waddit Cruz said.
Cruz, 47, who has driven to work from Melrose in the Bronx to West 68th Street for 15 years, said there always had been three or four spaces available when he arrived at 7 am. But since Jan. 5, he’s had to circle at least 30 minutes daily.
“Since Monday, I haven’t found any spots,” he said. “It’s gonna get worse and worse.”
The outer boroughs are also getting squeezed.
“Congestion pricing must be working for the Manhattan elite because it’s sure screwing us,” said Staten Island Councilman Joe Borelli, who reported a surge of Garden Staters hogging spots at the park and ride near the Staten Island Railway’s Huguenot Station.
Upper West Sider Matt Hogan, 62, confessed that a friend living across the Hudson River was among those contributing to the newfound parking chaos in the neighborhood.
Rather than drive from his home in Ridgewood, NJ, into the congestion zone to meet for dinner with friends, the pal planned on snagging a spot near Hogan’s home on West 73rd Street and West End Avenue, with the pair taking the subway down together.
“It will be his new route if he’s coming into the city and coming down there,” Hogan said.
“It’s much cheaper than $9.”
