PATERSON – State officials say they want to make sure so-called congestion pricing in New York City doesn’t hurt New Jersey drivers.

“New Jersey should not have to pay twice,” Sen. Bob Menendez said Friday afternoon following a ceremony at Great Falls National Historical Park.

Congestion pricing has been kicked around in New York for years. It involves assessing a toll on drivers entering Manhattan from 60th Street south. The purpose is twofold – raise money to improve public transit in the city and reduce congestion on city streets.

As now proposed, drivers from New Jersey entering the city from the Holland or Lincoln tunnels would be exempt from additional tolls given the fact they already would have paid a toll to use the tunnels. However, those crossing the George Washington Bridge might have to pay an added toll if they travel south into the “congestion zone” below 60th Street.

Menendez and Gov. Phil Murphy both suggested that motorists using the bridge to reach the city also should be exempt.

The governor said New Jersey has made,  or will make, its feelings known and that there may be ongoing discussions on this with their counterparts across the river.

The problem is that the “ongoing” aspect of things may be limited. Congestion pricing would be part of New York State’s 2019-20 budget that must be adopted by April 1.

The brief discussion how New Jersey drivers will be treated followed a very upbeat ceremony honoring the 10th anniversary of the creation of a national park surrounding the Great Falls.

There is legitimate history here. Alexander Hamilton, whose statue overlooks the rumbling falls, saw their potential more than 200 years ago when he helped create what is now the City of Paterson. The power harnessed from the falls was key to developing the industries that helped build not only New Jersey, but the United States.

Mayor Andre Sayegh exuberantly traced some of the city’s history and, like other speakers, stressed the importance newly-arrived immigrants played in the development of industrial America. And as Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-Paterson, noted,  many of those who toiled in the city’s plants, factories and mills helped start the nation’s organized labor movement.

The stress on immigration by these Democratic officials hardly seemed coincidental. Democrats and their supporters have spent the last two years or so lambasting the immigration polices and statements made by President Trump.

The park was created when Barack Obama was president, but the path still was not easy. Menendez related how hard it was to convince his Senate colleagues, especially those from the west, that Paterson deserved an urban national park.

After the speeches were done, Sayegh led the crowd in the singing of Happy Birthday, which was followed by the serving of cake,

A lot of the day was about the past – Hamilton, immigrants and the silk industry that made Paterson famous. But Gov. Murphy was looking ahead – all the way to 2109.

On the 100th anniversary of the park’s creation, Murphy said he envisioned a “transformed” city with “streets bustling with activity.”