I fully support reducing car traffic in Manhattan. Free street parking in particular needs to go. Why we're subsidizing car ownership when you live in Manhattan is absolutely beyond me. Walk down any street in Greenwich Village and look at how expensive the cars are parked on the street. That's what we're subsidizing.
But there's a problem: the 3 airports (JFK, LaGuardia and Neward) have fairly terrible transit options. So to get from Midtown to JFK, you need to get on the E line, get off at Jamaica and then catch the AirTrain. If you're at Termiannl 8, the AirTrain part takes like 20-25 minutes by itself. And it's expensive. If you don't happen to be on that line you first need to get to it. Alternatively you can get to Penn STation and catch the LIRR to Jamaica and still take the AirTrain. So you migh tneed to take 3 trains.
Why are the transit options awful? Because airports make too much money from parking and no government is going to mandate or pay for good transit options. There should really be an express train from JFK into Grand Central and Penn Station (and ideally across the Hudson into New Jersey).
Ubers and taxis will be paying this $15 charge so that will bring the cost to pretty close to $100 each way from Midtown to JFK. NYC already tacks on a lot of taxes and fees onto Ubers making them so incredibly expensive. I can remember trips 10 years ago that were $16 that are now closer to $40.
If you buy a parking space for your car in Manhattan it's realistically going to cost $300/month, minimum. Possibly $500+/month. Street parking should cost $20/day, minimum.
And in an ideal world, the Subway would also be free.
So while I support this, it's glossing over huge systemic problems and inequity and doing nothing to the massive gifts we continue to give the already wealthy.
If you're coming or going with a lot of luggage this is incredibly unwieldy
But there's a problem: the 3 airports (JFK, LaGuardia and Neward) have fairly terrible transit options. So to get from Midtown to JFK, you need to get on the E line, get off at Jamaica and then catch the AirTrain. If you're at Termiannl 8, the AirTrain part takes like 20-25 minutes by itself. And it's expensive. If you don't happen to be on that line you first need to get to it. Alternatively you can get to Penn STation and catch the LIRR to Jamaica and still take the AirTrain. So you migh tneed to take 3 trains.
Why are the transit options awful? Because airports make too much money from parking and no government is going to mandate or pay for good transit options. There should really be an express train from JFK into Grand Central and Penn Station (and ideally across the Hudson into New Jersey).
Ubers and taxis will be paying this $15 charge so that will bring the cost to pretty close to $100 each way from Midtown to JFK. NYC already tacks on a lot of taxes and fees onto Ubers making them so incredibly expensive. I can remember trips 10 years ago that were $16 that are now closer to $40.
If you buy a parking space for your car in Manhattan it's realistically going to cost $300/month, minimum. Possibly $500+/month. Street parking should cost $20/day, minimum.
And in an ideal world, the Subway would also be free.
So while I support this, it's glossing over huge systemic problems and inequity and doing nothing to the massive gifts we continue to give the already wealthy. If you're coming or going with a lot of luggage this is incredibly unwieldy