Why not fill city coffers by reinstituting the commuter tax or raising taxes on the rich?
A. Bridge tolls would bring in almost $700 million a year, almost twice the take from the old commuter tax. In fact, tolls paid by Long Islanders and New Jerseyans will put back a third of the “out-of-town” revenue the City lost when the commuter tax was repealed in 1999. But it isn’t either-or. To make a dent in the City’s $5 billion-a-year long-term budget deficit, we need those measures plus toll revenues.
