The collection of "congestion tolls" in New York City's Manhattan district is the "Democrat way" of collecting money through cash grabs, taxes, and tolls, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis said on Newsmax Sunday.
"They are always looking to take more money from people, hardworking New Yorkers in this case, instead of actually fixing the issue," the New York Republican told Newsmax's "Sunday Agenda."
She added that New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority is a "mismanaged, bureaucratic, bloated agency," and said Gov. Kathy Hochul should be looking to fix that.
"All their capital projects are billions over budget," Malliotakis said. "They are years over schedule because it is a disaster of an agency that has more debt than the majority of states in this country."
Hochul could also be taking money out of the "bloated" state budget that is "double the size of [that] of the state of Florida, where Florida has millions more residents," said Malliotakis.
"It is ludicrous," she added. "And now you want to hit us over the head and ask for $9 to drive into another borough in the city in which we live."
Staten Island residents already pay a toll to get off the island, and "now they're being hammered with this toll and the governor doesn't even want to give them a credit for the toll that they already pay," the congresswoman added. "It's just unfair."
The extra fees will cause New Yorkers to be "crushed with thousands of dollars" more per year, particularly first responders, nurses, and restaurant workers who must come into Manhattan during hours when they will have to drive rather than use public transportation.
The fees will also hinder an economy that has been hurting since the COVID-19 pandemic, and will increase the costs of goods being delivered into the city, said Malliotakis.
"What's worse is that our mayor and our governor is not focusing on the real issue," she added. "If you want people to ride our transit system, you need to make it safe. New York City is down about 7000 police officers since Sept. 11, 2001, and people are seeing people getting stabbed, shot at, set on fire on our subway system."
She said she hopes President Donald Trump, a native New Yorker, will push to reverse the congestion fees.
"I know he's directed his Department of Transportation to look at what his options are," said Malliotakis. "I hope he does step in here because what is happening to the people I represent, Staten Island, Brooklyn, and the people who are around New York City, is very unfair."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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