NY farmers would get a break on Thruway tolls and NYC crossings — including congestion charge —under bill pushed by GOP
Upstate farmers transporting fruits and veggies to the Big Apple would get a sweet break from paying tolls — including Manhattan’s planned controversial-congestion pricing tax, according to a new Albany bill.
“Charity begins at home — let’s do something to help farmers get product into the five boroughs,” said legislation supporter and vegetable farmer Brian Reeves, the owner of Reeves Farms in Baldwinsville near Syracuse.
“Don’t put up additional roadblocks. Every little bit of cost adds up,” explained Reeves, who grows sweet corn, tomatoes, peppers, strawberries, eggplant and cucumbers.
The proposed carve-out for farmers — pushed by state Senate Republican Minority Leader Robert Ortt and Assemblyman Joe Angelino (R-Binghamton) — would exempt them from Thruway tolls and all the MTA bridge and tunnel crossings to enter the city.
It also would cover the hotly controversial congestion pricing plan for Midtown Manhattan south of 60th Street, which is set to impose a $24 toll for small trucks and $36 for the larger trucks that are most likely used by farmers or the transport firms they hire.
“The men and women who work on our farms are only trying to make an honest living. Unfortunately, farmers are continuing to struggle with the after effects of the pandemic in addition to crushing mandates from Albany,” said Ortt, who reps western New York, which includes many farms in a statement.
“We must provide tax breaks where possible, especially when we are facing hikes for thruway toll and rising gas prices,” the pol said.
Much of the produce from upstate farmers is trucked to Hunts Point and other locations in The Bronx before ending up in grocery stores.
There are also 138 farmers’ and green markets across the city that sell fruit, vegetables and cider from upstate farms, according to the NYC Farmers’ Markets map.
The Post has previously reported that despite New York being the fourth largest wine-growing state in the US, not many upstate wineries’ products make it into the Big Apple market — in part because of transportation costs.
Most farmers contract with trucking companies to deliver their goods downstate or elsewhere, with the hefty cost of tolls factored into the cost of what they have to pay, said Jim Bittner, owner of Bittner-Singer Orchard in Appleton near Niagara Falls.
“I’ve got to pay tolls from Batavia all the way to New York City,” Bittner said.
He said he is charged $150 per pallet to transport his sweet cherries, plums and apples to the Big Apple, as opposed to $100 per crate to deliver them to the Midwest, including Chicago.
Luke George, owner of George’s Farm products and sales director of the Upstate New Yorkers Growers and Packers Cooperative, said any break from the tolls would be a “great thing for the growers.”
He said New York imposes higher labor costs on its farmers, putting them at a disadvantage with competing farms from other states.
Assemblyman Angelino, a sponsor of the bill, said it is time for New York to boost, not hurt, its farmers.
The toll break, designed for farmers only in New York, could come in the form of a tax or toll credit, lawmakers said.
“The cost of fuel is escalating along with the cost of tolls,” Angelino said in a statement. “To help offset the expenses, farmers should be exempt from tolls when transporting products to NYC for consumption in the city.”
New York’s controversial congestion pricing plan is expected to take effect as early as mid-June after a barrage of delays and lawsuits, which have held it up for years.
Under the plan, passenger vehicles will be charged a $15 toll to enter Midtown Manhattan below 60th Street. The MTA argues the new surcharge will raise $1 billion per year, which would be used to fund upgrades to the city’s public transit system.
Transit officials have long said the new pricing scheme also will ease traffic on some of the Big Apple’s busiest roadways and reduce pollution in Manhattan.
But the plan still faces a slew of opposition and legal trouble from New Jersey Gov Phil Murphy, Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella and the United Federation of Teachers, and the Municipal Labor Committee representing city municipal workers.
MTA declined to comment on the proposal to waive tolls for farmers.
The transit agency previously noted that of the more than 25,000 comments collected during the final public sessions on congestion pricing, pro-toll comments outnumbered anti-toll comments by about 2-to-1.
A Hochul spokesman, asked about the proposed toll exemption for farmers, said, “Governor Hochul will review any legislation that passes both houses.”
