North Brooklyn City Councilmembers Antonio Reynoso and Stephen Levin today announced their endorsement of the Move NY Fair Plan.
The plan, released in February and designed by “Gridlock” Sam Schwartz, calls for the tolling of all the East River Bridges with the money raised by the tolls earmarked for public transit and transportation infrastructure improvements.
A similar plan was floated under the Bloomberg Administration, but was not adopted. At the time, the plan created some division between Northern Brooklyn lawmakers, whose districts are near the East River Bridge crossings where traffic bottlenecks, and Southern Brooklyn lawmakers in neighborhoods where mass transit isn’t as good, and whose constituents depend more on driving.
Reynoso’s district includes Bushwick and Williamsburg in Brooklyn and Ridgewood in Queens. Levin’s district includes Brooklyn Heights, DUMBO, Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Boerum Hill, Vinegar Hill, Downtown Brooklyn, and Bedford-Stuyvesant.
“The MTA is currently in a dire state when it comes to funding, and my community desperately needs updates to its public transportation systems, especially with the recent and coming increase in population,” said Reynoso. “The Move NY Fair Plan helps address MTA’s budget deficit, while promoting sustainable transportation alternatives.”
Levin said New Yorkers depend on having a high quality, reliable transportation system and the city needs to do everything it can to provide needed funding and make improvements.
“The Move NY Fair Plan will benefit the communities I represent in North Brooklyn, addresses critical issues to improve the system as a whole, and I am proud to support the Plan,” said Levin.
The plan also has the support of Steve Hindy, President of Brooklyn Brewery, located in Williamsburg.
“Allowing New York City to be the gridlock capital of America while its public transit system crumbles is unconscionable,” said Hindy. “This is a fair plan that would ease congestion in and around the Central Business District, rationalize the cost of using the region’s bridges, and upgrade the city’s mass transit system.”
If adopted by the New York State legislature and the governor, the Move NY Fair Plan projects to raise $1.5 billion annually, which would then go to make major investments in maintaining and modernizing the city’s mass transit system and road network.
Other ideas being floated to raise money for mass transit improvements include the re-instituting of a commuter tax for residents that live outside the city, work in the city, but pay no city taxes.
Information regarding the Move NY Fair Plan, including the finalized version of the plan itself, can be found at www.iHeartMoveNY.org <http://www.iHeartMoveNY.org> .