Commuters lashed out at the Port Authority’s planned toll and fare hikes this morning in the first public hearings on the issue.
“We’re the ones who are suffering. We’re the ones who are dealing with the proposal,” Joe Valentine, vice president of Taxpayers of Staten Island said at a hearing at Port Ivory.
“What the hell do you think we are? Growing money on trees?” Valentine added. “People are starving out here. They haven’t got jobs. They’re starving. This is not the moment to do this.”
The hike “is going to kill us, making life impossible on Staten Island,” resident Matthew Tutone said. “It’s becoming virtually impossible to pursue happiness on Staten Island.”
“Staten Islanders are being held hostage by the Port Authority, with no choice but to pay the ransom,” said City Councilwoman Deborah Rose. “To propose a 50 percent increase is an undue burden on our residents.”
An official from AAA said the proposed toll and fare hikes would unfairly burden commuters with post-9/11 security costs and the rebuilding of the World Trade Center.
Legislative analyst Jeffrey Frediani testified Tuesday at a Port Authority hearing in Manhattan.
In Jersey City, NJ, a commuter agreed that the increases would be an economic hardship.
But laborers said maintenance and improvement projects would translate into jobs.
Plans call for raising Hudson River crossing tolls as soon as September. It could go up $4 for E-ZPass customers and $7 for cash-payers. Another $2 increase could happen in 2014.
The plan would also hike fares on PATH trains by $1.
A vote on the plan is set for Friday. Either governor could veto it within 10 days.
The Post reported today that Govs. Cuomo and Christie are tightening the screws on Port Authority officials in an effort to reduce their massive toll-hike proposal.
Reuven Fenton and AP contributed to this report