[Arnt]

He sort of has the right to use what he's paid for — his car.

He'll feel good about missing the things to be paid for with those $15B though. That only affects his ability to do things. If he wants ability, he has to think about how to pay for the things, and "don't pay" isn't an option if he wants the ability.

[Waterluvian]

You don’t have a right to use your car on public roads just because you paid for it. You get a driver’s license which is quite regulated.

[Arnt]

If you were to poll a thousand Americans a question such as "if you buy a car, do you have a right to use it on public roads?", how many per cent do you think would say yes? I'd guess >50%.

While I personally think the correct answer is no (IMO NY voters get to decide on that via city government), the opinion of the majority isn't something one should disregard.

[dcow]

Generally roads funded with public money in the US don’t become toll roads. Congestion isn’t only a problem in NYC. Imagine if every once public road became a public toll road. Something feels off about that even though I’m bullish on using market economics to solve civil problems like transit and parking.

[tootie]

You do not have a right to paved roads. I don't believe there would be any constitutional barricade to NYC closing every one of it's public roads and selling the land to private owners.