Lawmakers demand Verrazzano toll discount for Brooklyn drivers
State Sen. Andrew Gounardes announced he is introducing legislation to give Brooklyn motorists who frequently travel over the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge the same discount that Staten Islanders enjoy, calling the recently imposed $19 toll “highway robbery.”
Under Gounardes’ proposal, Brooklyn residents who drive over the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge 10 times or more a month will pay $5.50 per trip with E-ZPass, the same rate Staten Islanders pay.
“We have so many people who have to cross that bridge every single day,” Gounardes said at a press conference held in Bay Ridge’s John Paul Jones Park at the foot of the bridge Tuesday morning. Many Brooklyn residents work or go to school on Staten Island and many have relatives who live in that borough, he said.