BILL NUMBER: S5507

SPONSOR: SCARCELLA-SPANTON
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the public authorities law, in relation to exempting
Staten Island residents from Verrazzano-Narrows bridge tolls

 
PURPOSE:

This legislation intent is to exempt Staten Island residents from being
assessed tolls on the Verrazzanno-Narrows Bridge.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1. The public authority's law is amended by adding a new section
553-1 to read Verrazzano Narrows bridge; Staten Island resident
exemption. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law, but
subject to agreements with noteholder and bondholders, the authority
shall exempt residents of the borough of Staten Island using a New York
customer service E-ZPass account on the Verrazzano-Narrows bridge from
the payment of any tolls thereof, provided, however, that such exemption
              

shall not apply to trips made by vehicles that are used for commercial
purposes. Application for such toll exemption shall be made in such
manner as shall be prescribed by the authority and shall contain such
information as the authority may reasonably require.

Section 2. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it
shall have become law. Effective immediate, the addition, amendment
and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation
of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and
completed on or before such effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Staten Island being an island where access to a from the borough is via
bridges, one being the Verrazzano Narrows bridge where its current levy
is already the priciest in the nation. Only the 23-mile Chesapeake Bay
Bridge-Tunnel in Virginia, a chain of six crossings that costs $15 each
way, comes close. Staten Island is the only borough that burdens its
residents with tolls to access other boroughs and the State of New
Jersey.

Tolls put our businesses at a competitive disadvantage, affect our abil-
ity to visit family, burdens families that wish to access faith-based
meetings and impose a heavy financial burden on commuters, especially
residents that are financially burdened. With the implementation of
federal infrastructure funding and congestion pricing, the residents of
Staten Island should benefit by being allowed an exemption on at least
one of its more prominent access points, the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2022 Session: Referred to Transportation

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall have
become law. Effective immediate, the addition, amendment and/or repeal
of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act
on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed on or
before such effective date.