U.S. Senate Candidate Khaled Salem Demands Relief for Overtaxed Staten Island Residents

Staten Island intentionally "beaten up" by State fees with residents having to always pay to go home

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Khaled Salem for U.S. Senate in New York

Jul 29, 2021, 08:41 ET

NEW YORK, July 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Khaled Salem, the Egyptian-American U.S. Senate candidate running against incumbent Chuck Schumer in the 2022 election and CEO of American Human Rights, today expressed outrage that Staten Island borough residents are still paying a discounted partial toll fee of $2.95. Residents have not been successful in lobbying to become exempt from toll fees, soit continues to be compulsory that they pay the toll every time they cross the bridge. Instead of paying nothing when they commute to their homes using the Verrazano Bridge, they are "bullied into paying."

Candidate Salem is putting his complete support behind Staten Island residents and will put forth a petition to Mayor deBlasio, and to the next mayor who succeeds him, to ensure that residents are not punished with fees, "just because they happen to live in a borough that doesn't have the choice of a free way to get home."Residents of all other boroughs have multiple choices and Staten Island residents do not.

"Property owners in Staten Island are taxed at the same rate as their 'borough counterparts,' said Salem. "Residents of the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens all have multiple options to travel between boroughs without having to pay a toll. Staten Island has no options other than the Verrazano or the Staten Island Ferry – both for a cost.In April, the MTA approved a rate hike for Staten Island residents' 'discount,' from $2.75 to $2.95, which is ridiculous and categorically unfair."

At present, Manhattan offers three ways to cross bridges to Brooklyn. There is one free bridge to and from Queens and one free bridge to the Bronx. Candidate Salem believes that all boroughs connected by bridges should always offer one free inter-borough bridge option. Staten Island communities should be afforded the same opportunity as everyone else – at least to not be charged a fee when they return home. "They don't deserve to be set apart from their fellow New York City residents, and I support them 100%," said Salem.

For more information, visit khaled2022forcongress.com/.

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Media contact:
Khaled Salem
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1518 348 6868

SOURCE Khaled Salem for U.S. Senate in New York