ἐγὼ τὸ μὲν δὴ πανταχοῦ θρυλούμενον κράτιστον εἶναι φημὶ μὴ φῦναι βροτῷ·
Nobody is “forced” to drive in Manhattan. Nobody. Anybody who works in Manhattan can take the bus or train in, it has a tremendous amount of transit connections from all areas where people are commuting from. Any worker like a plumber or whatever will have the toll paid for by their company.
I know exactly the thing you saw. That guy lived 15 blocks from his kids. That’s a ~20 minute walk in one of the most pleasant parts of Manhattan. It would take him longer to find parking than walk to see his kids. Insanity.
All this hysteria over a charge of $9 btw. In a city where parking for the day will cost you ~$50.
This toll is actually a congestion charge to discourage driving in Manhattan. The proceeds of the toll go directly to funding the MTA so they can build more subway lines. Only wealthy people even own cars in Manhattan. I assure you this form of fare evasion is not in any way based, and the only people doing it are carbrained petite bourgeoise.