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Friday, June 14, 2024
Vol. 99, No. 24
EDIA PRESENTS B L A N K S L AT E M
TOP BUSINESS
LEADERS COUNTY OF NASSAU G AWARDS EVENT NETWORKIN
A BLANK SLATE MEDIA
SPECIAL SECTION
| JUNE 14, 2024
TOP BUSINESS G.N. SOUTH GIRLS BADMITTON WINS TITLE LEADERS
SUOZZI, D’ESPOSITO BLAST FAA OVER FLIGHTS
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Congestion pricing halted by Hochul Nassau Dem legislators, D’Esposito applaud governor’s 11th-hour move BY TAY L O R H E R Z L I C H Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Wednesday that she was halting the long-awaited MTA congestion pricing plan just weeks before tolls were set to hit New Yorkers. The move elicited support from Long Island Democrats and Republicans. The governor said while the plan was initially created pre-pandemic with noble causes in mind, such as reducing city traffic and vehicle emissions and boosting funds for MTA capital projects, it is unfair for workers who are now being “hammered on costs.” “Circumstances have changed and we must respond to the facts on the ground, not from the rhetoric from five years ago,” Hochul said in a video Wednesday. “I have directed the MTA to indefinitely pause the program.” The tolls were set to hit commuters June 30, MTA officials said. Car drivers would face a $15 charge to enter Manhattan at 61st St. and below, truck drivers would face a $24 to $36 charge, depending on their vehicle size, and motorcycle drivers would face a $7.50 charge. The congestion pricing plan was crafted when city tourism was high and crime was low, the governor said. Now, in a post-pandemic world, she
said inflation and the strain on middleand working-class families is “just too much.” While many have criticized the congestion pricing plan, especially Long Island and New Jersey representatives whose constituents often commute into the city for work, proponents of the plan argued that it would alleviate traffic and generate much-needed revenue for the MTA. Some environmentalists have said they are disappointed in the governor’s move, pointing to similar tolls across the globe that are meant to boost public transit conditions. Despite his outspoken opposition to the plan, Republican Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (CD-4) slammed the program pause. He called for a harsher response and accused Hochul of playing politics. “Gov. Hochul is realizing her constant nickel and diming of taxpayers is widely loathed across New York,” D’Esposito said in a statement, “but we can’t allow Hochul and her Democratic allies to merely delay the implementation of this new tax until after the election for solely political purposes, and we will continue the bipartisan effort to ensure this bad policy is canceled permanently.” Continued on Page 37
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE GREAT NECK PUBLIC SCHOOLS
North Middle School seventh grader Stanley Kao won the nationwide design contest for the 2024 Achilles Kids International Marathon program. See story on page 39.
Estates neighbors push back on 5-story proposal BY C A M E RY N O A K ES The developers of a proposed five-story, multi-family building on Middle Neck Road said they made modifications in response to com-
B L A N K S L AT E M E D I A P R E S E N T S
TOP BUSINESS
LEADERS OF NASSAU COUNTY NETWORKING AWARDS EVENT
ments from the community and the Great Neck Estates Board of Trustees, but neighbors remain opposed to the project primarily due to its height. “We don’t want to turn our vil-
lage into Queens,” said Steven Roth said, who lives adjoining the development’s property line. Roth’s main objection to the development is that it exceeds the 55Continued on Page 38
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