Senate passes Verrazano Bridge toll discount plan for Brooklyn

June 8, 2018 By John Alexander Brooklyn Daily Eagle

The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. Eagle file photo Lore Croghan

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Call it the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge or the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge. Either way, the toll is way too high.

And Brooklynites are being hit the hardest by having to cough up the $17 round-trip fare.

The state Senate has finally passed a bill that will offer some relief, especially for those Brooklyn residents who travel to Staten Island for work or have family living there.

A reduced-fare plan has been in effect for Staten Island residents who commute daily across the bridge to work in Manhattan or one of the boroughs. That same discount has never applied for Brooklyn residents who do the reverse commute.

According to state Sen. Marty Golden, the legislation would provide Verrazano-Narrows Bridge toll relief to Kings County residents who use E-Z pass and who cross the bridge three or more times per month.

“The residents of Brooklyn, and in particular Southern Brooklyn, realistically have only one way to enter Staten Island and/or parts of New Jersey for employment, visiting relatives and use of vacation properties,” Golden said.

“Our families and businesses simply cannot afford to shoulder the burdens forced on them by the tolls at the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge any longer.”

Brooklyn residents with E-Z pass pay $11.52, a 32 percent savings from the $17 toll. Staten Island residents pay $5.50.

Residents say that the toll reduction would cut their monthly travel expenses in half.

Golden said that this issue has been a constant complaint from borough residents. “On a very regular basis, Brooklyn residents express concerns about the regular rising cost of Verrazano Bridge toll, and see no end in sight to these increases,” Golden said, calling on his colleagues in the Assembly to “make this the year toll-relief happens.”

Assmeblymember Peter Abbate has been championing the reduction of tolls for Brooklynites.

“As the sponsor of this bill in the Assembly, I have been trying to get toll relief passed for the Verrazano Bridge,” Abbate told the Eagle. “As one of the priciest tolls in the country, this is a serious issue for the residents of Southern Brooklyn as well as the rest of the city. I will continue to work on an agreement with my colleagues on the scope of the bill and the cost.”

In addition to the issue of toll hikes, Golden has led passage for legislation that seeks to correct the spelling of the Verrazano by adding the extra “z” back to the explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano’s name. That bill was sent to the Assembly by Assemblymember Michael Cusic.

Golden called the Verrazano tolls the most expensive in the country and said that this legislation has taken too long. He told this paper that Brooklyn families deserve the same consideration as Staten Islanders. “While people in Staten Island can’t afford to get off the island, we can’t afford to get on it.”