And the hit won't be as bad as some people fear, proponents say, because the $8 charge would be reduced by the price of tolls drivers pay to enter Manhattan.
Bloomberg's proposal is modeled on a plan enacted in London in 2003 that officials there credit with slashing traffic by 20% and carbon dioxide emissions by 15%.
New York officials expect the fees to raise about $400 million a year, which would be used for public transportation and other transit needs.
Some New Yorkers say they'd pay almost anything to escape cramped intersections and spewing tailpipes.
DeJuan Stroud, an event decorator from TriBeCa, was so frustrated that he dumped his car last month in favor of a Vespa scooter.
"You're always late and you're always apologizing," he said. "It's just not the way you want to start a meeting with clients."
Adria de Haume, a jewelry designer from Greenwich, Conn., says the fee would prompt her to switch to the suburban commuter train.
"In the scheme of things, it's worth doing because it's for a greater good," she said. "It's for the environment. It's for peoples' health."
But not everyone is so sure that the plan will have its intended effect.
Marc Betesh, a New Jersey real estate consultant, thinks that a lot of people would do exactly what he plans to do -- grudgingly fork over $8 and look for other ways to recoup it rather than part with his car.
"This will definitely cost me more money, [but] I don't think it's going to save me that much time," Betesh said. "It's not going to stop me from driving in. I like my car."
walter.hamilton@latimes.com
