Wednesday’s Headlines: For Whom the Toll Bells Edition

It’s all over … but the shouting.

Our friends at the MTA announced the schedule for the final round of public hearings about congestion pricing — this time four hybrid meetings to collect public comment on the proposed once-a-day $15 peak toll.

Never mind that the hearings are pretty much the same as the ones the MTA is required to do whenever it raises any toll, these four sessions are likely to be barn-burners — of the type when you burn down the barn after the horse has been safely removed.

Face it, these hearings have nothing to do with whether congestion pricing will happen; they’re just public venting sessions for a few car drivers to claim they “need” their subsidized drive into the city (and, by extension, need to slow down all the other drivers on the road, need to add pollution to our air, need to cause crashes and fatalities, etc. etc. etc.).

If you don’t want to attend a hearing, you can still comment. Starting today and continuing through Monday, March 11, 2024, you can submit written comments online, by email (to cbdtp.feedback@mtabt.org), by mail (to CBD Tolling Program, 2 Broadway, 23rd Floor, New York, NY 10004), by phone (call 646-252-7440) or even by fax (to 212-504-3148, marked “Attention to CBDTP Team”). All comments will be recorded and submitted for review.

The hearings will be online at mta.info/CBDTP or at 2 Broadway at these dates and times:

• Thursday, Feb. 29, at 6 p.m. 
• Friday, March 1, at 10 a.m.  
• Monday, March 4, at 10 a.m.
• Monday, March 4, at 6 p.m.

Dave Colon will be watching, so please don’t waste his time. The Daily News covered the announcement as well.

In other news:

• Speaking of public hearings, the Department of Transportation is asking Upper West Siders to comment on the proposed curb management pilot. Get all the information from I Love the Upper West Side. We’ll be covering.
• The new, evasion-proof subway turnstiles are moving closer to reality. (NYDN, Crain’s amNY)
• The Times covered the NYPD’s transfer of reporters from “The Shack” inside 1 Police Plaza to a trailer outside the building.
• And finally, we received a murder of generous donations yesterday as part of our annual fundraising drive. So let us thank these great people: Thanks, Gilbert! Thanks, Arkadiusz! Thanks, Matt! And let’s not forget, if you want to join them in generosity, click here. And if you donate $500, you can tag along as I un-deface or uncover scofflaws’ license plates as part of my “criminal mischief” campaign (details here). Look how much fun I had with two top donors: