Business inside the congestion pricing zone may have picked up faster than in areas outside of it, according to an annual report on the state of the economy from the New York City Economic Development Corp.
Critics said the tolls, which took effect in January, could kill business in Manhattan.
Instead, according to the EDC, foot traffic within business improvement districts inside the zone — often called the central business district — was up 4.8 percent year over year, compared to an overall increase of just 1 percent for business districts elsewhere in the city.
“We’ve seen less traffic, better air quality and more foot traffic in our central business district,” the agency’s chief economist, Melissa Pumphrey, said during a Wednesday call with reporters.
