MERKT: CORZINE SUDDENLY OPPOSED TO TOLL HIKES – EXCEPT FOR HIS OWN  
 

GOVERNOR’S STAUNCH OPPOSITION
TO NYC CONGESTION TOLL IS HYPOCRISY

Assemblyman Richard Merkt today said that Governor Jon Corzine’s staunch opposition to a new congestion pricing toll on Hudson River crossings is hypocritical given Corzine’s own support for massive toll hikes on our state’s commuters.

“It is nothing short of astounding that the same governor who proposed raising tolls on our own motorists is now angry that New York officials seek to do the same,” said Merkt, R-Morris. “Governor Corzine apparently doesn’t like when others do unto him what he would do unto others.”

Corzine criticized New York City officials for a proposed congestion pricing plan that would impose an extra $3 to $4 “surcharge” on tolls paid by New Jersey drivers using the Hudson River crossings to enter Manhattan. The governor even said that he would go to court and take legal action to stop the plan.

This comes while Corzine has yet to abandon his own plan to hike New Jersey tolls by 800 percent for New Jersey commuters – a plan he ironically has noted, as a selling point, that might help to reduce congestion on our own roads.

“If Governor Corzine really believes that these large toll hikes are inappropriate, he should be consistent and drop his own toll hike plan,” Merkt said. “Otherwise, all of the governor’s bluster on this issue is nothing more than empty political rhetoric.”

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