NYC overcrowding will hit neighborhoods with some of the city’s worst vacancy rates — as GOP issues warning to Dems

Republicans are vowing to make sure Democrats pay a political price for this New Manhattan Congestion Toll – As a new report reveals, some of the affected neighborhoods are already Worst vacancy rates in the city,

The GOP may not be able to stop implementation of a Gov. Kathy Hochul-backed $9 base toll for entry into Manhattan’s business district – a First fee of its kind in the country — but officials are already seeing it as a major campaign issue against Democrats in future state and city elections.

State Republican Party Chairman Ed Cox said, “Mob pricing is a continuation of the tax and spending policies of the Democrats in Albany and New York City.” “Every Assemblyman and Senator who voted for this legislation needs to have this explained to them. it makes no sense.”

Meanwhile, opponents claim that a new report from the Department of City Planning shows that the new toll could economically harm Manhattan neighborhoods in a toll area already plagued by hundreds of vacant storefronts.

Six of the city’s top 10 neighborhoods with the highest storefront vacancy rates are in toll zones, as well as 10 of the top 20 communities.

The report released last Friday shows:

• 24% of storefronts in the Financial District/Battery Park are vacant, the highest in the city.
• The vacancy rate in Tribeca/Civic Center was 21%, followed by Chinatown at 20% and East Midtown/Turtle Bay at 19.2%.
• The vacancy rate was 17% in Chelsea/Hudson Yards and Midtown South/Flatiron Union Square and 16% in Midtown/Times Square, SoHo-Little Italy and the Lower East Side, and 15.7% in Greenwich Village.

Retired state Supreme Court justice and former Democratic Councilwoman Katherine Freed, a Lower East Side activist and former Democratic councilwoman, said state and MTA officials never conducted an economic assessment of the new toll and that city planning data provides evidence that it would be detrimental to the congested area. Can cause harm to the neighborhood.

“Nobody looked at the economic impact,” said Freed, the leader of New Yorkers Against Congestion Pricing. “We have vacant buildings, vacant storefronts.”

He also said Hochul has given Republicans a gift they can use to defeat Democrats in upcoming elections — and jeopardize his re-election in 2026.

“It’s going to pick Mike Lawler,” Freed said, referring to Hudson Valley Republican CongressmanWhich is weighing a run.

Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa, a Republican who is planning another run for mayor in 2026, said the toll is going to “kill Manhattan.”

“There are empty storefronts in Midtown now,” Sliwa said. “You know what that means? More migration south of the Mason-Dixon line.

“We are the party representing the working class.”

Junior restaurateur Alan Rosen, who also has eateries in Times Square Weighing in on the race for mayor The charges were called “complete madness”.

“Charging people more to come to the greatest city in the world is absolutely nonsense,” he said. “It’s anti-business, it’s anti-visitor. This is complete madness.

“Can we please stop this madness?”

The MTA board is scheduled to vote Monday on whether to implement the new tolls effective Jan. 5.

Although Hochul has the votes to pass it on the board, some opposition is expected. Mayor Eric Adams’ appointees are expected to support the new tolls.

The governor issued a “pause” or suspension in June of a planned $15 toll to enter Midtown south of 60th Street, weeks before it was to go into effect, which many believed would be in response to Democratic candidates running for Congress. It was a political strategy to prevent backlash. This year.

Last week, Hochul revived the plan just days after the election, calling for a $9 toll instead — though it would rise to $12 in 2028 and even higher after that. Supporters have touted the plan as a way to curb traffic and pollution in Midtown, although the MTA is relying heavily on the new revenue generated to help fund its capital program.

“The governor’s initial instincts were right. Neither the issue has changed nor my opposition has changed. Congestion pricing puts too much of a burden on our regional economy, whether it’s $15 or $9,” David Mack, a Nassau County appointee to the MTA board, told The Post Sunday.

siena college survey released in april found that nearly two-thirds of New York City voters opposed congestion pricing, as did 72% of suburbanites.

The blowback came from outer-borough Democrats as well as Republicans, who appeared at an anti-congestion toll press conference in Fresh Meadows, Queens, on Sunday.

“Let me be clear, $9 is a lot higher than the current rate, which is zero,” said Assemblyman David Weprin (D-Queens). “This is not a saving. This is another tax that working New Yorkers can’t afford. Congestion pricing is not a fair deal for New Yorkers.

“Manhattan still has not recovered from COVID-19,” he said. “There are still office buildings that are not filled.”

Assemblywoman Nilly Rozic (D-Queens) agreed, saying, “Affordability is really the most important thing that voters, that constituents, the people on the street talk to us about, and we have to listen to that.

“So I stand here with my constituents to say pause,” Rozic said. “We don’t need to do that right here right now.”

Former Governor Andrew Cuomo And the Democratic-run legislature approved legislation in 2019 that authorized the MTA to impose new congestion tolls, but earlier this year they questioned whether now was the best time to do so. He is considering a comeback bid for the post of mayor.