Congestion Pricing for Manhattan gets Nowhere
08 Apr 2008
ALBANY, N.Y. - The state Assembly has rejected New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's proposal to charge a fee to drive into parts of Manhattan. The ambitious plan for congestion pricing died today in a private conference room on the third floor of the State Capitol.
The survey of Democratic Assembly members in a private conference comes after days of closed-door negotiations and means the city will forfeit $354 million in federal money for kick-starting the initiative. The Legislature faced a Monday deadline to act on Bloomberg's proposal, which was already endorsed by Democratic Gov. David Paterson, the Republican-led Senate and the City Council.
The concept, known as congestion pricing, was proposed to cut traffic and pollution by forcing more commuters onto mass transit. It would have charged most drivers $8 to drive below 60th Street between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Truckers would have paid $21. It ran into strenuous objections from legislators from mostly the outer boroughs and New York City suburbs, who said it would unfairly target commuters and their constituents.
"The conference has decided that they are not prepared to do congestion pricing," Silver said. "Many members just don't believe in the concept. Many think this proposal is flawed."
"It will not be on the floor of the Assembly," he said. There was overwhelming opposition to the plan in private Democratic conference, but there was no public vote and individual lawmaker's votes weren't recorded.
"What we are witnessing today is one of the biggest cop-outs in New York's history," said Bloomberg spokesman John Gallagher. "After insisting on the formation of a commission to make recommendations for a bill, and then for the City Council to vote to endorse that bill, the Assembly needs to stand up and be counted.
"They owe it to the majority of New Yorkers who support this plan, the scores of environmental groups, public health organizations, business leaders, unions, and the public at large, to put this proposal to a public vote," Gallagher said.
"You can speak to members of the conference," said Silver, who represents part of Manhattan. "If I were making the decision alone, I might have made a different decision."
There was no immediate comment from Republican Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno or Democratic Gov. David Paterson, who supported the proposal.
Silver said part of the problem with the proposal, which Bloomberg had said could begin next year, is that it doesn't immediately provide funding to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. He said the agency that runs the city's mass transit is already underfunded and needs to be bolstered before it takes on more commuters.
"That has to be the first job as we go forward," Silver said.
"The mayor is entitled to his vision," said Westchester Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, a Democrat and leading critic of the plan. "And the Legislature is entitled to say it isn't in the public interest."
Brodsky also said the Bloomberg administration failed to address all its concerns over a year, a claim the administration denies. Brodsky was on the congestion commission that held 21 public hearings, in addition to a City Council and Assembly hearing. The administration in Albany provided a list of 16 major changes to which Bloomberg agreed. But Brodsky said fundamental, even philosophical questions were never worked out. Among them, he said, was even the idea of charging people to use city streets.