Congestion Pricing and the Manhattan Renter
Mayor Bloomberg's dream of charging commuters to drive below 60th Street in Manhattan took a giant leap forward yesterday as the City Council voted in his proposal's favor. Manhattan renters, especially those on the Upper West Side and the Upper East Side, should take notice.
The old boundary for the congestion pricing proposal was 86th Street, smackdab in the middle of both neighborhoods. In June, The Observer wondered aloud:
[T]he $8 daily fee that Mayor Bloomberg is proposing car drivers pay to enter core Manhattan will give people all the more reason to seek out homes near existing transit hubs. Commuters who choose to drive every day will incur about $2,000 a year in commuting charges that they don’t currently pay.
Now that the border's likely to be 60th Street will we see midtown condos like the Sheffield on West 57th become all the more valuable? And will more New York homeowners and tenants soon have to factor commuting fees into their midtown travels? Will they simply opt for downtown or midtown living instead?
After all, a border at 60th Street leaves just about the entire Upper West and East sides--Manhattan's two biggest residential neighborhoods--beyond the free-commuting zone and liable to congestion pricing fees (not to mention Harlem).
It's hard to say whether $2,000 more annually will give buyers in a borough where the average apartment costs well over $1 million pause. But renters? We can't help but think that the rental market's the one to watch for any residual effects of congestion pricing on the Manhattan housing market.
Of course, we also think that most people who can should avail themselves of mass transit in New York. Just sayin'.
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I'm quite confused by your story - if the border is 60th street, won't traffic travelling north be outside of the fees charged? ie - getting off the 59th st bridge at 60th street and travelling toward 72nd street? what is the charge.
No, this makes Manhattan property north of 60th Street more desirable. You can have a car parked at home and drive in and out of the city without paying a fee. I dont have a car so it doesn't matter to me, but the 60th street boundary makes no sense. The fee should be charged for entering/leaving anywhere in Manhattan. As it stands people will drive in north of 60th and cause congestion/parking nightmares there.
"live in midtown or downtown"???? Who can afford to live there?
Let's get real and direct comments to the majority of your readers, who can't afford to live in Manhattan.
This is silly: "After all, a border at 60th Street leaves just about the entire Upper West and East sides--Manhattan's two biggest residential neighborhoods--beyond the free-commuting zone and liable to congestion pricing fees (not to mention Harlem)."
Who the heck is driving their car from the Upper West Side to midtown?
This is silly too: "Now that the border's likely to be 60th Street will we see midtown condos like the Sheffield on West 57th become all the more valuable?"
Anyone who lives on 57th Street isn't going to be driving their car to work in Midtown or Downtown. How is it valuable?
What will become valuable are parking lots north of 60th because now they can charge a few dollars more than midtown and compete with midtown garages.