“In for a penny, in for a pound,” could be said for taking a risk; in for thousands of pennies could be hailed as a protest. That’s what happened at the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge when a group of motorists expressed their outrage over the imminent toll hike by paying in heaps of pennies, dimes, and small change of various shapes and sizes to suit a toll collector’s nightmares.
The current shakedown toll of $10 will be raised to an even more outrageous $11 on July 12, while that of E-Z Pass will be raised to $9.14; the E-Z Pass discount for Staten Island residents will rise to $5.48 and the car pool rate will go to $2.56.
“Artist Scott LoBaido, the protest organizer, stopped his American flag-bedecked 1989 Chevy Suburban midspan and climbed onto the roof, inciting the 30 or so motorists behind him while the ‘Battle Hymn of the Republic‘ blared from his stereo. The protesters pumped their fists out their windows, honked their horns and rattled plastic bags full of pennies before slowly rolling along toward the toll booths.”
When bridge management spotted the approaching excitement, they quickly closed off the V-N’s upper-level under the cover of “Road Work.” Hence, the caravan of protesters was forced to use the lower-level and kept out of the view of hovering news helicopters. Nevertheless, a point was made and these toll-collecting minions had, if only for a while, the tables of outrage turned on them.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=8364d608-b2b7-41f0-8d18-1b409b29e044)
Sphere: Related Content
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
