Congestion fares will cost up to $27 to drive into Manhattan

New congestion pricing will see cars charged up to $27 total to cross into Manhattan during the day, with van and truck drivers facing even higher costs — and firefighters, teachers and general workers say they simply cannot afford it.

As The Post’s map shows, the cost of entering the congestion zone, defined as entering Manhattan anywhere on or below 60th Street, in a car starting Jan. 5 will be significantly higher — between $9 and $20 with an E -ZPass and $13.50 to $27 without — when added to the price of passage by tunnel or some bridges.

Business owners warn that the deeply unpopular charge — pushed through by Gov. Kathy Hochul and not voted for by any New Yorker — will affect everyone in the city, as they will be forced to pass their increased costs onto customers.

Currently, over 700,000 vehicles enter the congestion charge zone in Manhattan daily, according to the Swedish Transport Agencytraveling at an average of just 7 mph. With the congestion charge, the authority believes it can reduce that figure by around 100,000 vehicles.

Small trucks such as delivery vehicles will pay a congestion charge about $5 higher during peak periods. Large trucks and tour buses will pay a congestion charge of $21.60 along with any bridge or tunnel costs during peak hours, defined as 5am to 9pm weekdays and 9am to 9pm on weekends.

Those who ride the city’s yellow cabs will also face increased fees, with $2.50 added to all trips that “begin, end or pass through Manhattan south of 96th Street,” for congestion pricing.

It is another major blow to those struggling with the high cost of living in New York – already the third most expensive city in the world, according to a a recent study by the Economist.

Small Business Owner: Larry Zogby

Delivery service companies are facing an eye-popping increase in costs and expect to be among the hardest hit by congestion pricing, according to multiple sources who spoke to The Post.

While a ceiling of one charge per day applies to cars and motorcycles, trucks, vans and buses will be charged for each passage into the congestion zone, according to the MTA.

RDS delivery service president and CEO Larry Zogby claimed that congestion pricing will cost his business, which runs from Long Island City, Queens, to all New York boroughs, more than a million dollars annually.

“Nobody I talk to in business can absorb this, so they want to take it and pass it on,” he told The Post.

“It will be my second largest expense behind salary, with over $1 million pushed to the customer.”

The company’s drivers enter the congestion zone more than 40,000 times a year to deliver everything from medical samples and pharmaceutical supplies to food to senior citizens, according to Zogby.

Congestion pricing is aimed at reducing traffic and encouraging people to use public transport, proponents argue.

According to the MTA, the money collected through tolls will primarily be used to upgrade the city’s dilapidated subway system and buses.

But Zogby claims the whole plan is “a sham” and says “everyone’s swimming in the same s—t.”

“It’s a money grab,” he said.

“They don’t consider small commercial businesses with trucks and vans. More thought should be given to that.”

There are 10 lawsuits pending against the tolling program in federal and state courts in New York and New Jersey.

“People … need to brace themselves and be prepared for the impact,” Zogby said, adding, “Because it’s the customer that gets screwed.”

Firefighters

One FDNY probationary firefighter, who spoke to The Post on condition of anonymity, said the general consensus among his colleagues is that they are “taxed to work” in Manhattan.

“I would normally drive to work, but the expenses are much more than I expected.

“Very few people in my academy class wanted to be assigned downtown because of congestion pricing, but we can’t choose where we go.

“It’s a big part of my salary and an unfair cost.”

While the source said he will no longer drive his car into Manhattan to do his job, there are no reasonable alternatives, according to him.

“If I take the train to work from Long Island, I’m often sent to another firehouse because it’s part of the job, but I don’t want to bring my car in anymore because of the expense, so I had to go with 40 to 60 pound equipment or take an Uber,” he said.

“In your firehouse, you have your own locker, so it’s stored there, so if you’re transferred to another firehouse or sent across town, you have to take all that with you. Each day, a few hundred FDNY firefighters are reassigned to another firehouse to fill in as needed.

“Pants, jackets, boots and helmet are a minimum of 45 pounds for a small person. Then you have your own personal tools: screwdriver, wrench, hose wrench. You also need to be prepared to decontaminate after a fire, so bring your toiletries and an extra set of clothes, towel, soap and shampoo.

“All these things have to be transported from one point to another, and when the weather is bad, like in a snowstorm, or the city is blocked by traffic – how are we going to get from point A to point B?”

The Big Apple’s firefighters association chief expects the prices to have a catastrophic effect on the city’s firefighters, who use their own cars to move themselves and their work equipment between their homes and different firehouses.

“A lot of city fire is going to be hauling 80 pounds of equipment on subways to get from one firehouse to another because they can’t bring their own vehicles in anymore,” FDNY Uniformed Firefighters Association President Andrew Ansbro of Greater New York told The Post.

“The equipment is covered in dangerous carcinogenic substances, which are unsafe to take on public transport.

“And the last thing any New Yorker wants is a firefighter who is worn out before they even get to work, when you need them to come and save your life.”

The firefighters union has called on the MTA to exempt members from paying a $15 toll when they drive their personal cars to firehouses within the zone below 60th Street.

But that has so far been unsuccessful, with the MTA ordering the FDNY to provide company cars to employees who need them or to reimburse their work expenses for required travel.

“The law is clear, personal vehicles are not considered emergency vehicles,” Ansbro continued.

“If the FDNY were to designate emergency vehicles, that would solve the problem or we would have to figure something out with the members to reimburse them for using their own vehicles, but for now it leaves New York firefighters at a big disadvantage. “

Brooklyn Plumber: Paul Belli

Paul Belli, a small business owner in Brooklyn, said he’s also worried about the ripple effect.

“Everyone I know in the plumbing business is planning to pass the cost on to customers by increasing prices or adding a surcharge, which is what we are going to do,” he told The Post.

Belli, chairman of Franco Belli PlumbingHe said he and his team are called to jobs all over the city.

The company’s plumbers use cars that are all equipped with E-ZPasses paid for by the employer. So it’s Belli’s small family business, started by his late father in 1974, and others like it, that will ultimately feel the toll of the squeeze.

“We go where people need plumbing work. I get calls to Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx,” explained Belli, who is also the company’s licensed master plumber.

“The increase in congestion charges is going to cost the business hundreds of dollars extra a week and we have to be able to make that back somehow so it will be added to the bills of people we service in the part of Manhattan.”

School teacher: Paul Caminiti

Paul Caminiti commutes regularly from his home in Staten Island to the East Village, where he works as a teacher. He drives to and from school every day because, according to him, the trip is 40 minutes each way by car versus 90 minutes by public transport.

“(I pay) about $13 a day, sometimes $20 to get from Staten Island to the East Village with no real reliable buses or trains to get to,” he told The Post.

“Now we have to pay extra because of an idiot governor. She clearly can’t read a room. Nine dollars is too much … I won’t vote for her or any idiot who goes for congestion pricing.”

Congestion pricing exists in several other major cities worldwide, including London, Milan and Singapore.