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john_ny · 03-09-2011, 08:15 PM

We live on a small island, 38,000 acres. (I have a friend who lives on a ranch, in west Texas, and it's 68,000 acres.) There are 5 counties in New York City, and we are one of them, but we only have about 6% of the total population. The only way to drive off the island is to cross a bridge. There are three bridges that go to New Jersey, and one to Brooklyn, NY. They are all toll bridges. We used to have a ferry to Manhattan, where you could drive on, (for a toll) but after 9/11 they stopped carrying vehicles. Now, you can ride the ferry free, but only for pedestrians.
So, basically, we have no way of getting off the island without paying a toll. Staten Island has between 1 and 2 tenths of one percent (close to 16 or 17 one hundreths of 1 percent) of the total population of the entire U.S. Yet, about 6% of all the tolls collected in the entire U.S. come from Staten Island. That's about 40 times the national average, per capita, even with the discount. Since S.I. is the only borough (county) in NY that one cannot drive to another borough for free, some politicians, a few years ago, deemed it was only fair that our resiidents should get a discount. Of course, there were soon complaints from others that it was unfair to give us discounts, and not them.
The president of our chamber of commerce recently wrote to our local congressman, urging him to support a bill that would make it a federal law, to assure that the only way that the discount stayed in effect.

03-09-2011, 08:15 PM	#1 (permalink)
john_ny Member john_ny's Photo Gallery Location: Staten Island, NY - southernmost county in NY State. Find me on the map! Zone: USDA7- Sunset34 Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 2,014 BananaBucks : 618,308 Feedback: 5 / 100% Said "Thanks" 1,057 Times Was Thanked 2,284 Times in 832 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 37 Times	Inequity We live on a small island, 38,000 acres. (I have a friend who lives on a ranch, in west Texas, and it's 68,000 acres.) There are 5 counties in New York City, and we are one of them, but we only have about 6% of the total population. The only way to drive off the island is to cross a bridge. There are three bridges that go to New Jersey, and one to Brooklyn, NY. They are all toll bridges. We used to have a ferry to Manhattan, where you could drive on, (for a toll) but after 9/11 they stopped carrying vehicles. Now, you can ride the ferry free, but only for pedestrians. So, basically, we have no way of getting off the island without paying a toll. Staten Island has between 1 and 2 tenths of one percent (close to 16 or 17 one hundreths of 1 percent) of the total population of the entire U.S. Yet, about 6% of all the tolls collected in the entire U.S. come from Staten Island. That's about 40 times the national average, per capita, even with the discount. Since S.I. is the only borough (county) in NY that one cannot drive to another borough for free, some politicians, a few years ago, deemed it was only fair that our resiidents should get a discount. Of course, there were soon complaints from others that it was unfair to give us discounts, and not them. The president of our chamber of commerce recently wrote to our local congressman, urging him to support a bill that would make it a federal law, to assure that the only way that the discount stayed in effect. __________________ John