Remember this Sci-Fi film?
I guess I'm going to be an iconoclast on this one. If New Yorkers want to try this, let them. It's their city and they should be able to run it the way they want. In my understanding of the American system, the states and the local communities are like separate "experiments," trying out this idea and that, as a way to weed out bad ideas and introduce good ideas to the nation as a whole. (I forget the precise term used by one of the founders about the states being "experiments," and I'm sure someone will flame me as a reminder.)
Let New York go ahead and obligate drivers to pay tolls south of 60th street. I grew up in Connecticut - one joker once suggested that the license plate read "The Toll Booth State" - and tolls were a pain but they didn't kill us. We'll see what happens in 10 years.