It keeps the filthy hoi polloi from hogging and clogging the streets when important people have to be somewhere.

But it's actually not about convenience for the brahmins of the country - no, no, no.

It's about saving the earth, and getting the little people to pay for it.

 New York’s new toll for drivers entering the center of Manhattan debuted Sunday, meaning many people will pay $9 to access the busiest part of the Big Apple during peak hours.

The toll, known as congestion pricing, is meant to reduce traffic gridlock in the densely packed city while also raising money to help fix its ailing public transit infrastructure.

Drivers of most passenger cars will pay $9 to enter Manhattan south of Central Park on weekdays between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. and on weekends between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. During off hours, the toll will be $2.25 for most vehicles.

...It comes on top of tolls drivers pay for crossing various bridges and tunnels to get to the city in the first place, although there will be a credit of up to $3 for those who have already paid to enter Manhattan via certain tunnels during peak hours.

New Yorkers and neighboring New Jersey, where lots of daily commuters live, fought this insane scheme for years, but to no avail. 

Originally, the plan had been to charge a whopping $15 on top of all the other fees you pay getting into the city, but they hammered out a compromise by lowering it to $9 per vehicle. Once they got the federal okay (as if that wouldn't happen from the Biden administration, right?), daffy Kathy Hochul, New York's loser of a governor, pitched this wonderful new fee to Manhattan travelers as "Look how much money I just SAVED YOU!"

ONLY $9 A TRIP INSTEAD OF $15! SO MUCH MONEY BACK IN YOUR POCKET!

That's the same loopy logic my ex-wife used to buy things on sale. "I saved us money because it was on sale" does not disregard the fact that we did not need it before or after the sale.

— Craig Vickery (@craigvickery) January 6, 2025

Someone called her "neurodivergent" - it works.

There are plenty of people happy about getting "up to 80,000 cars" out of Manhattan.

One of them is a corpulent, garrulous, Penguin-like New York congressman. He is thrilled at the news.

This morning, congestion pricing went live, a first-of-its-kind program in the nation to alleviate traffic, bringing safer streets, improved transit, faster emergency response times, & cleaner air to NYC.

I’ve long championed congestion pricing, and finally, the moment is here. https://t.co/1Kl5FquUcM

— Rep. Nadler (@RepJerryNadler) January 5, 2025

Or he was until unruly commenters pointed out the hypocrisy of his celebration and ruined the glow of his victory waddle.

Here is Representative Jerry Nadler getting out of his taxpayer-funded, NYPD-driven SUV, in which he pays zero tolls. https://t.co/jV6RadjB3E pic.twitter.com/nwgcHtDqaF

— Geiger Capital (@Geiger_Capital) January 5, 2025

This beaming young lad is the poster child for progressive congestion pricing advocates. 

Omg did you just go to college and learn how to be a bureaucrat who tells other people how to live even though you have zero real world experience??

Hahah

— Forest Mommy🌲🗡💪🏹🌲🌲 (@ForestMommy) January 5, 2025

Fair question, and it turns out that is exactly the case - he went to college and is an uber-progressive who believes in no one having freedom of movement. 

Sam here wants you priced out of every mode of transportation that he doesn't approve of if he can't outright regulate you out of it.

These kids are so nice. Such dreamy little 15-minute-cities Davos fascistas.

This face needs to be pasted on one of those inflatable clowns with the weighted sand bottom and placed in subway stations around Manhattan. pic.twitter.com/1nC5VgTpkW

— SilverPatriot (3rd iteration) (@ReduxPatriotToo) January 5, 2025

Now, unlike Sam and Nadler and all the others... 

With congestion pricing now in effect, it's worth noting that one of its main advocates, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, testified in support of the initiative while seated in the back of his limousine, chauffeured by one of his two drivers at taxpayer expense.

Cc… pic.twitter.com/H1Z6bSCboj

— Sam E. Antar (@SamAntar) January 6, 2025

...how will people get into Manhattan who have to be there every day? 

Worse, what if they work weird shifts, like, say, firefighters and EMTs?

Well, those unions are telling their members to ask for transfers out of Manhattan immediately. 

FDNY EMS Local 2507, the union representing New York City’s emergency response teams, is calling for its members to transfer out of Midtown and Lower Manhattan ahead of the state’s launch of congestion pricing. 

Union representatives say the $9 peak congestion fee will have a significant financial impact on their members, who make $18.94 per hour. They urged the 270 members to submit transfer requests immediately.

The congestion pricing toll would cost firefighters, EMTs, and other emergency personnel about $45 a week to get to work, according to the union. 

Although the MTA has offered a low-income tax credit for residents in the congestion pricing zone, the credit has not been extended to people who work in the area but live outside of it.

Gracious, this was well thought through.

There are also safety considerations as far a firefighters and their gear go which make lugging it on public transportation not...ideal.

It tends to be covered with nasty crap. Is it nastier than a subway car bench? That remains to be seen, but no one should want to find out.

Just like the alternative plans for everyone else - everyone gets to take the bus or those wonderful NYC subways.

Once again, is there a single “public transit advocate” who even acknowledges this is the number one reason people don’t use the subway or are they all still too busy getting off on the financial punishment they’re inflicting on middle class drivers https://t.co/A0PuuiOcgz

— Inez Stepman ⚪️🔴⚪️ (@InezFeltscher) January 6, 2025

At least these folks had a nice...quiet...car this morning.

Congestion Pricing is intended to drive people into the subway. According to a friend, this was the scene on the E Train at 6:40am this morning at 42nd and 8th Avenue. Clearly, more needs to be done to provide services for those in need — and ensure that all riders are safe and… pic.twitter.com/fmU6peVkkx

— Bill Bratton (@CommissBratton) January 6, 2025

Admittedly, there has been some bad press about the subways lately over recurring problems with flaming bodies, falling bodies - well, okay, shoved off the platform - and knives. But come on.

What's a little nick among friends on the platform? Probably hurt yourself worse shaving every morning.

Man stabbed in NYC subway station as congestion pricing kicks in, forcing more commuters into dangerous system https://t.co/cLj3aBLrXO pic.twitter.com/VkMxdHFGXF

— New York Post (@nypost) January 5, 2025

Bring extra HandiWipes and Bandaids, and quit bellyaching.

Just ask Daffy Kathy and the Nads.

You're saving money and the climate.