A group of Upper West Side bars is trying to use congestion pricing to gin up business.
“You’re in luck . . . all our locations are above the zone,” boasted a social media post this week from Dive Bars owner Lee Seinfeld, referring to the new $9 congestion-pricing zone below 60th Street in Manhattan.
Seinfeld, who owns the Upper West Side spot as well as Broadway Dive, Dive 75 and Dive 106th, said he and other bar owners are hoping customers who live or work outside the 60th Street toll zone stay close to home.
“Another reason to stay uptown!” one follower chimed in.
But the promotion will only go so far.
“Now is the toughest time of the year for us in the bar and restaurant business,” Seinfeld said, citing Dry January, the frigid weather and students being home for winter break.
With congestion pricing to boot, “it’s going to be very bad for business,” he said.
Food prices have rocketed 45% since 2020, he said, and his businesses barely made it out of the pandemic.
Meanwhile, some Big Apple restaurants below 60th Street are offering $9 discounts to offset the new levy for customers.
“It’s a way to take a bit of the sting out of being stung by congestion pricing,” restaurateur Aristotle “Telly” Hatzigeorgiou told The Post’s Side Dish.
