The New York Times Cars first crossed the Henry Hudson Bridge on May 7, 1938.Dear Diary:
The recent announcement that cash would no longer be accepted at the tolls on the Henry Hudson Bridge left me feeling unexpectedly wistful. That there would no longer be human beings collecting money there recalled an experience I had in the '80s, when I was a college student.
I had gone to visit a friend at her school in New Jersey and was on my way home to Connecticut. As usual, at that time, I had just a few dollars on me, enough to get over the George Washington Bridge and pay the remaining tolls between New York City and home. But unfamiliar with city traffic, I got mixed up after coming over the George Washington and somehow ended up heading back toward New Jersey. On the other side I turned around and got myself going in the right direction, but paying the toll a second time wiped out my cash.
Pulling into the tollbooth at the Henry Hudson, I paused for a second and then burst into tears. “I have no money,†I wailed.
The toll taker asked me to pull over to the side of the bridge. The man followed me over to the shoulder. I expected to be thrown into some toll-related version of debtors' prison.
He leaned over the driver's side window. “How much do you need to get home?†he asked. I burst into tears again, this time from gratitude.
We settled on an amount sufficient to get me through the tollbooths scattered along the parkways ahead. He gave me the money and a slip of paper with his address on it. I don't remember his name, but I do recall that he lived in Co-Op City, for which I have had inordinate affection ever since.
When I got home, I mailed him the cash.
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