Guest Op-Ed: Make driving to Staten Island affordable again
BY STATE SENATOR MARTY GOLDEN
$15.00. That’s how much it costs to cross the only bridge that connects Staten Island with the rest of New York City. Just last week, we heard the news that Staten Island residents will be now being eligible for a discount, making their daily trip $5.50. That’s less than half the E-ZPass rate for everyone else ($10.66 starting in March).
Let me be clear, Staten Island residents deserve a discount, because you cannot drive out of Richmond County without being tolled. Yet at the same time, the Verrazano Bridge affects the household budgets of many Brooklyn families in a very similar way, and relief is needed.