New York City’s food industry leaders begged Gov. Kathy Hochul for an exemption from her controversial congestion pricing plan – warning that the fee will lead to higher prices for consumers. A coalition of more than 100 businesses and associations – including restaurateurs, distributors, food banks and businesses such as Baldor Specialty Foods and Acme Smoked Fish – are raising concerns about the toll on all vehicles entering Manhattan below 60th Street, which is set to begin Jan. 5.
Famed chef Tom Colicchio feared the onerous toll will drive down business at restaurants in the congestion pricing zone that have finally started to recover from pandemic lockdowns. “At a certain point, people will stop going out,” Colicchio, owner of Crafted Hospitality, told Side Dish. “Everything is getting too expensive. No company will absorb the cost of this, they will just pass it on to the consumer.” Many Big Apple-based businesses already pay a separate tax to fund the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the beneficiary of the congestion pricing plan, the leaders wrote in a Dec. 10 letter to Hochul, which was obtained by Side Dish. “New York City’s food and beverage distributors find themselves in the challenging position of being doubly penalized for providing a vital service to our city,” the letter said. The association called for “common sense” exemptions for “essential food service distributors” based in the city.Congesting pricing toll is now set to impose fees of $9 for cars, $14.40 for small trucks and $21.60 for large trucks during peak hours 5 a.m.-9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m.-9 p.m. on weekends.“The current proposal creates an undue burden on essential food service businesses that keep New York City’s renowned food industry alive,” the letter noted. “This is a middle class tax grab. It makes no sense,” said Big Apple nightclub impresario Ritchie Romer
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