Congressman Bob Turner told Gov. Andrew Cuomo that he wants the Cross Bay Veterans Memorial Bridge toll to end for Queens’ residents. It is the only intra-borough bridge in the city to charge a toll.
Turner (R-Queens) is the second politician in a month to decry the toll that he and others have called discriminatory.
“There is no justification for the residents of Queens to bear this toll,” Turner said in a letter sent to Cuomo on Dec. 5.
Cross Bay Bridge connects the Rockaways to southern Queens. The MTA used to waive the toll for Rockaway residents, but on July 23, 2010, the MTA reinstated it to help close an $800 million budget gap.
“Quite simply, the toll is a discriminatory fee against Queens’ residents. It forces them to pay a toll to travel from one part of the borough to another. It is a dubious and expensive distinction that my constituents who commute to New York City, who visit friends and family in Queens, and who travel throughout the area have to pay this toll,” Turner said in the letter.
Rockaway residents who use an E-ZPass tag are now charged a resident rate of $1.19 per trip for the first two trips in a day. After that, the toll is waived for any more trips made in the same day.
Between 1997 and 2010 residents had gotten a rebate for every round trip on their E-ZPass. The toll for nonresidents is $1.80 with an E- ZPass or $3.25 in cash.
“Use of this bridge offers the only practical access to postal services and retail shopping for the 3,000 residents who live in the Broad Channel and the 130,000 who live in the Rockaways areas,” Turner said.
Since he was elected in September, Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder has also called for the elimination of the toll, which he has called a hindrance to local businesses.
Goldfeder wrote a letter on Nov. 17 to the MTA’s new executive director, Joe Lhota, and invited him to tour the area and hear residents’ complaints in person.
Turner simply asked for the abolishment of the fee.
“You and I were raised in Queens.” He told Cuomo. “We understand and appreciate the area’s wonderful cultural and geographic diversity, particularly along the coastal areas in the Rockaways. I am sure that you would agree that this geographic diversity should not come at an unfair cost to the residents of the borough.”
By Jeremiah Dobruck
