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Business & Tech

Nyack Merchants Concerned About TZ Toll Hike

Toll to hit $14 come 2017; shoppers willing to cross bridge may drop off

The on the new Tappan Zee Bridge may mean thinking twice before crossing the river.

And for niche business owners in Nyack, fewer folks using the span could translate into less shoppers.

“It’s definitely going to affect business,” said Jack Dunnigan, owner of at 8 South Broadway.

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The bookstore and other Nyack businesses have several customers visit from Westchester and Connecticut, according to Dunnigan—but with a significant cost increase, people are going to hesitate before crossing the bridge, he said.

This toll uptick was revealed Aug. 2 at Rockland Community College. About 200 Rocklanders squeezed into the Technology Center for a presentation from specialists and politicians on the new bridge project. Participants were given an opportunity to ask the panel questions, as well.

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The bridge will take between 4.5 and 5.5 years to complete, said Larry Schwartz, Governor Andrew Cuomo’s secretary appointed to oversee the project. At that time, the toll will most like be about $14 for cash commuters and slightly less for E-ZPass members.

“I think this is going to be a deterrent for people coming into Nyack and Rockland, because they’ll be facing a very heavy toll going back,” said Nyacker and lawyer Robert Lewis, who is also a partial owner of and in downtown Nyack. “People are not going to want to cross the bridge at that rate.”

Lewis believes the toll will affect Westchester businesses, as well. “It’s extremely expensive,” he said.

The toll may be too expensive for some, but Emily Theakston, who works at at 60 South Broadway, feels the customers she sees “know what they want, and a toll is not going to stop them."

“We carry brands that you don’t find elsewhere,” added Theakston, 20, who has been working at the artsy lifestyle store owned by Laura Gould for about two years.

Theakston does predict that shoppers’ habits will change, however. Instead of traveling back and forth regularly, they may wait until there are several reasons they need to cross the bridge and then splurge.

For restaurants and bars, which populate both Rockland and Westchester, there may be some decline in business, but it’s hard to predict, restaurant workers said.

“We get a lot of Westchester and Connecticut customers, but I’m not sure how many or how much it’ll affect the business,” said Brianna Blanco, 22, manager of at 80 1/2 Main Street.

For at 82 Main Street, much of their business is from the surrounding area. They have another location in White Plains, too.

“We get our fair share of customers from Westchester and Connecticut, but actually most of them are from Rockland,” said Robert Conway, who works the day-shift at Black Bear and lives in downtown Nyack. “I know it will impact us somewhat, but I’m not sure how much exactly and I’m hopeful it won’t be huge.”

This high-cost toll beginning in 2017-18 is definitely of concern to most businesses and residents on either side of the bridge, but there are many other costs that worry locals, as well.

Dunnigan, who has been running the bookstore for some 40 years, admits that building the bridge will be good for the local economy, but he can’t ignore the costs, he said. And those include in addition to the toll.

As someone who witnessed the first Tappan Zee Bridge being built, Dunnigan shakes his head and says, "poor South Nyack."

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For more information on the new Tappan Zee Bridge, call 855-TZBRIDGE or visit www.NewNYBridge.com.

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