Few politicians would admit to being enthusiastic about putting tolls on the East and Harlem River bridges, but the same cannot be said of urban planners, environmentalists or mass-transit enthusiasts.
To be clear: The package that legislators in Albany are negotiating (or not negotiating, as the case may be) for the M.T.A. is about money, not urban planning. And it is also completely conceivable that it will not pass, even though the M.T.A. is facing a $1.2 billion budget gap, and threatening big fare increases and service cuts if Albany doesn’t provide help.
In the meantime, though, green-city types are quietly looking at the imposition of tolls as a catalyzing event—one that will break down existing barriers to other politically risky measures involving traffic congestion, air pollution or raising money from regular people for investment in mass transit.
