Following the completion of the new bridge, New York City raised property taxes from the New York Central for the bridge from $69,666 to $381,121 for Fiscal Year 1955, and for the Park Avenue Tunnel from $1,263,378 to $2,759,036. In response to the tax hike, New York Central President A. E. Perlman stated that the city was trying to run the company out of town by making its operations unprofitable. As a result of the massive increase, on September 10, 1956, the railroad applied with the New York State Public Service Commission for permission to raise commuter fares for the first time in four years.