City Council Approves Congestion Pricing: What Will Silver Do?
Traffic on Flickr.
This evening the City Council voted 30-20 in favor of a home rule message requesting that the State Legislature approve a congestion pricing plan for New York City. The plan in its current incarnation would charge those with E-ZPass $8 to drive below 60th Street in Manhattan on weekdays from 6 A.M. to 6 P.M. and $9 for those without it (Mayor Bloomberg had originally pushed for the northern boundary to be 86th Street).
With the ball now in Albany’s court, it will be up to state legislators to move ahead with the bill. The big question will be where does Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver stand on the measure? Governor Paterson and Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno have expressed support and rumor has it that Speaker Quinn wasn’t going to call a vote until she had received assurances that the plan would get the go-ahead in the state legislature.
However, the Times reports that “Mr. Silver said that he had made no such assurance. “I told her it’s not before us until they vote on it,” he said. “And we will deal with the issue after we pass a budget.”
As the calendar gets closer to the April 7th deadline for the city to receive federal transportation funds (only if the State agrees to move ahead with the congestion pricing plan), we’ll have to see whether Shelly Silver is looking to screw up Mayor Mike’s grand plans yet again.
Entries (RSS)
1 comment
[...] Yesterday several anti-congestion pricing politicians again voiced their opposition to Mayor Bloomberg’s much-pushed plan. City Council Member David Weprin (D-Queens) held a rally at City Hall with Manhattan small-business owners, and attempted to highlight the effect the plan would have on this segment of New York’s economy. At a forum at Xavierian High School in Bay Ridge, City Council Member Tony Avella (D-Queens) also registered his opposition, pleading, “Please don’t do this.” Mayor Bloomberg was at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Brooklyn yesterday to talk about the legacy of Martin Luther King, but he inevitably strayed to the topic congestion pricing. He even posited that Dr. King would be for the plan and said, “We’re honoring his memory by creating an opportunity for New Yorkers that I think Dr. King would’ve wanted us to do.” Bloomberg remains optimistic that his plan will pass, but if it does, it may get some amendments tacked on including: more reviews and studies of the plan’s impact, a three-year trial period instead of a permanent plan, and a provision to strengthen opportunities for women and minority businesses to take part in new transit projects. Then there’s always the question of where Shelly Silver will come down in all of this. [...]
Leave a Comment