The group at the corner of 60th and Lex started to form a little after 11:30 p.m. on Saturday. It was 28 degrees (“feels like 15,” my phone said, accurately), and there were maybe 15 guys milling around in cold-weather gear when I arrived. They were here to mark, at long last, the switching-on of the congestion-pricing cameras at midnight, a potentially city-changing event that had been crawling toward reality for more than a decade. Nearly everyone who drives in Manhattan below 60th will, as of this morning, pay a toll (variable, but often $9) for the privilege. The cameras overhead have been in place since the spring, when Governor Kathy Hochul abruptly pulled the plug on the plan; she replugged it last month, and tonight’s the night it all kicks in.

The mood was light, playful, chatty — like that of a victory rally. Several people carried signs: a friendly “NYC ♥ MTA” and “Thank You for Paying the Toll,” and a more assertive “Thank You for Paying a Tiny Share of the Damage Your Car Causes.” A couple of reporters were collecting quotes,........

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