The head of a group that represents New York City’s Broadway theater district claims that a massive new toll in Manhattan could be devastating for theaters.
A $15 congestion pricing fee is set to go into effect next Spring below 60th St. in Midtown.
Cristyne Nicholas, CEO of Nicholas & Lence Communications, says the toll will hurt theaters that are still trying to recover from the pandemic.
“Now everything is a little bit shaky, we’re not quite back yet, and this is just another impediment for people to come into the city,” Nicholas said on WABC Radio’s Cats Roundtable. “Especially the bridge and tunnel people who are so important to the Broadway theatres.”
She says 30 percent of the people who make up the Broadway audience are in the suburbs. People in New Jersey already pay a toll to get into Manhattan and now face another fee.
Those people were already the slowest to come back to theaters after COVID.
Nicholas cited remote working and crime issues as reasons attendance is down. She says congestion pricing will just create one more reason for people to stay away.
“It could be doing better and I don't think congestion pricing is going to help it,” she added.
The plan was sold several years ago as a quality-of-life win for people in the city with fewer cars bringing cleaner air, safer streets and better mass transit. The tolls are expected to raid $15 billion for public transportation projects.
But Nicholas claims the toll is more about fixing a budget hole than improving the quality of life in New York City.
“This is not the same city it was 5 years ago. The city then was booming. The city was doing great. It was pre-COVID,” Nicholas said.
She suggests putting a small toll on every bridge into the island of Manhattan to raise money instead of adding a huge tax on streets leading into Midtown Manhattan.
Congestion pricing already faces a federal lawsuit by New Jersey. Gov. Phil Murphy calls it a double tax on commuters.
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