The NYPD issued over 100 summonses in a six-hour period in Manhattan Wednesday morning to drivers trying to stiff the newly implemented congestion toll, police said.
From 6 a.m. to noon, officers stationed at 60th St. and 2nd Avenue, and 60th St. and Broadway, handed out 113 tickets. Of those, 52 were for vehicles with obstructed or blocked license plates — a violation that’s been heavily targeted since the congestion pricing program went into effect Sunday.
In addition to the summonses, 10 vehicles were seized during the operation — eight of which had suspended registrations, and two that were impounded for other reasons. One individual was arrested at the scene, though authorities clarified the bust was for a warrant unrelated to congestion pricing.
The remaining violations included suspended licenses, unregistered vehicles, and other offenses in line with the city’s expanded enforcement efforts under the congestion pricing program, which now charges drivers $9 to enter Manhattan’s busiest areas south of 60th St., including parts of the Financial District, Midtown, and Lower Manhattan.
Also handcuffed at the checkpoint near Columbus Circle was Staten Island artist, activist and very angry Scott LoBaido.
In a video posted to his X account, LoBaido parked his car just before the toll cameras and covered his front license plate with duct tape and his rear with a cut out of a middle finger, obscuring the tags.
LoBaido stood on the roof of his SUV holding a larger cut out of a middle finger. “F–k you! F–k you!,” the artist shouted. “F–k your congestion f–king prices!”
The video then cuts to a group of police officers attempting to coax him off his car and move to the sidewalk. He was issued two summonses for disorderly conduct for creating a hazardous condition and obstruction of vehicular traffic, police said.