It’s a lose-lose for Big Apple commuters.
A top labor boss slammed the Manhattan congestion toll on drivers set to start Sunday, saying the subways are too dangerous to give commuters another option.
“To put congestion pricing in now is atrocious, disgusting — a real slap in the face,” Phil Valenti, head of the 1,600 member Transport Workers Union Local 106, told The Post Thursday. “The subway system is unsafe right now. Give me a break.
“New Yorkers have been forced into a terrible and unfair position,” said Valenti, whose union represents bus and subway supervisors. “You can pay $9 to enter the congestion pricing zone or take the subway, where violent crime is soaring. At least some drivers will be afraid to take the subway, undermining the entire purpose of congestion pricing. MTA Chairman Janno Lieber and Gov. Kathy Hochul are to blame for this absolute mess.”
The Big Apple subway system has been wracked by five straight days of violence amid a spike in transit crime — despite the NYPD, National Guard and even the crime-crusading Guardian Angels on patrol, The Post reported earlier Thursday.
The horrifying Dec. 22 torching death of a New Jersey straphanger on a Brooklyn F train was only the beginning of the latest underground crime spree, which has seen five people stabbed or slashed and a 45-year-old straphanger thrown under a Manhattan subway train since Sunday.
Valenti rattled off NYPD stats, showing that the 10 subway murders in 2024 was double 2023’s totals. It was also a 233% increase from the pre-COVID period five years ago and the highest in a generation.
There were 573 felony assaults last year through Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024 – a 51% increase from five years ago.
The MTA loses $700 million a year from subway and bus fare cheaters, which should be more of a priority that soaking drivers with another toll, he said.
“With Governor Hochul’s policies of New York State being a wide-open sanctuary state, we now have the mentality ill from all over the world, who are homeless, walking our streets, taking our subways and killing people randomly,” Valenti said.
“Riders and workers are not safe.”
The MTA defended subway safety.
“The NYPD has reported the attached full-year crime numbers for 2024, reflecting serious crime down 5.4% for the full year and down 12.6% over 2019, prepandemic,” MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan said. “The numbers speak for themselves.”
MTA Chief Security Officer Michael Kemper said in a statement to The Post, “Thousands of NYPD Transit officers are working every hour of the day and night to make the subway safe, and the record reflects they are making an impact.
“I know firsthand that to suggest otherwise disrespects the commitment to transit workers and riders, and real results delivered by those officers.”
Hochul’s office said the governor is focusing on affordability and subway crime.
“Governor Hochul cut the congestion pricing toll by 40%, squashed a potential 25% surge fee, and is fighting every single day to make the subways safer for commuters and transit workers,” a Hochul spokesman said.
“The Governor deployed an additional 1,250 uniformed law enforcement personnel to support NYPD’s efforts to protect subway passengers, and she’ll continue working to fight crime and improve public safety.”
