April 3, 2008
Congestion Pricing Plan Bottled Up in Albany
Democratic lawmakers in Albany seem poised to block Mayor Bloomberg’s congestion pricing plan, which attempts to reduce traffic by charging drivers $8 to enter Manhattan below 60th Street during peak hours. Though the plan was approved by the City Council on Monday, a “lively, sometimes emotional” meeting between state lawmakers yesterday ran over three and a half hours, and approximately 30 of them expressed opposition to the plan, with only four or five in favor.
“I think it’s going down,” Queens assemblyman Anthony S. Seminerio told the Times. “There are too many unanswered questions.” Assemblyman Daniel J. O’Donnell, who represents the Upper West Side and opposes the plan, said “This is Albany, and nothing is dead until it’s dead, dead. [But] it doesn’t look good.” Assembly member Ruben Diaz explained that he opposes the plan because “It’s just a bad approach where working class citizens of the city of New York are going to wind up having to pay either $8 or eventually a fare increase.”
The Legislature must approve the plan before Monday in order for the city to qualify for $354 million of federal funding. All eyes are Assemblyman Sheldon Silver, who previously stymied Bloomberg’s plan for a stadium on the West Side. Thus far Silver has been noncommittal on congestion pricing, and his support is crucial to bring the bill to the floor.
Bloomberg has been pushing for the plan to be included in the state budget, which is now three days late, but Silver wants congestion pricing to be in a separate bill with its own vote. According to the Times, some Democrats are accusing Republican senate majority leader Joseph L. Bruno of stalling final action on the $124 billion budget so Bloomberg can keep trying to corral support for the congestion traffic pricing plan.
Photo of the Albany Capitol building: MIKECNY
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Love or hate Congestion Pricing, it burns my biscuits that City-based decisions are ultimately decided by politicians from rural areas of the state that have no perspective of city-related issues.
Obviously, this doesn't apply to all jurisdiction, but does it bug others that Albany can have the city by the "short and curlies" on certain issues?
I have the same problem with people in the outer boros making decisions that relate to Manhattan. Without Manhattan all the outer boros are just that, outer boros, they might as well be in Jersey. Manhattan should drop all those free loading boros and do what they need to do. If you want to come to Manhattan you have to pay for it plain and simple.
And stop giving free parking to all the city employees! All the cops, firemen, sanitation workers, teachers, city council idiots and all those other free loaders. Let's see? $30 a day times how many thousand freeloaders times 365 days a year? Huh we are talking some serious money here.
Get real you bunch of jerk politicians.
I agree, bxbrian - NYC should be able to make its own decisions and stop funding the budget for the rest of the state. Bloomberg has tried to make every concession for Albany except axing the plan. The MTA has to raise cash somehow and riders are already paying fare increases.
On the other comment I actually don't mind that civil servants get some perks - we should cut them a break since they keep the city running - but stop handing them out as favors to rich people who can afford to pay!
I oppose congestion pricing, and though I'll be happy if the State legislature manages to kill it, I agree that for things like this, the city should have autonomy.
Snoopy, Manhattan is not self-sufficient, and the high cost of living in Manhattan has priced out pretty much anyone who hasn't lived here forever, or is not an investment banker or independently wealthy. The city depends on the many people who commute in every day from the other boroughs to do jobs that would never support living here. They aren't freeloaders; they make Manhattan possible.
I don't want to see any more politicians being wooed with earmarks for pet projects. Like what happened in Manhattan this passes week. Shameful.
I hope they kill the congestiong pricing.
It is a poorly thought out blatent money grab.
That will affect the hard working lower and middle class.
They should have to improve public transportation BEFORE they even consider this. Alternatives should be in place and working properly.
It is just another way to rape people for cash and suck the federal funding tit.
None of wich or a miniscule portion would go to improving the mass transit system.
The false populism of these politicians makes me want to vomit.
Sure it'd be great to improve public transportation first. With what money? You going to lend it to them, Pizza Time? And "the hard working lower and middle class" don't fucking commute to Manhattan by car. What are you smoking?
"On the other comment I actually don't mind that civil servants get some perks - we should cut them a break since they keep the city running - but stop handing them out as favors to rich people who can afford to pay!" WHAT? THEY ARE HARDLY SERVANTS! They get paid a lot more than they are worth and if it wasn't for all the leachers that support the services to the outer boros, they would be on welfare and living in "affordable" housing. If Manhattan money was used to pay for their services rather than support those same services to the outer boros then Manhattan would have the PD drive around in Cadillac Escalades.
I'm sure that there are support services that will make the effort to support the needs of Manhattanites without needing free parking if the Manhattan crew could aford it.
Baseline facts is the outer boros are leaching off the wealth that Manhattan provides.
Get real!
Congestion pricing, though, does affect the constituents of many state lawmakers. Reality is, folks in NYC aren't usually the ones driving around midtown -- it's the commuters from Westchester and Long Island (and NJ) who'd prefer their own car to Metro-North, the LIRR, (or NJ Transit). The state has a stake in whatever assinine plan Bloomberg comes up with this week, so I'm glad there's at least some system of checks and balances in place.
it burns my biscuits that City-based decisions are ultimately decided by politicians from rural areas of the state that have no perspective of city-related issues.
2/3rds of the state's congressional districts are in the city/Long Island/Westchester. Upstate can't block anything that downstate wants to do.
If anything, it's exactly the opposite of what you just said. Western New York can do absolutely nothing without pandering to the downstate senators.
The state senators from down here would never cede that much power to the city council to let the city be autonomous.
NYC should be able to make its own decisions and stop funding the budget for the rest of the state.
That's fine. Then stop sending them your prisoners, store your own water, and stop paying in-state prices for the SUNY schools up there.
"That's fine. Then stop sending them y"our prisoners, store your own water, and stop paying in-state prices for the SUNY schools up there."
Without our prisoners a lot of those upstate little sh i t hole towns couldn't survive. Regarding the water supply I believe a lot of that comes from Pennsylvania. If you delete the outer boros need I think we could survive without upstate water.
SUNY is typical of all instate schools that every state supports. That would be fine also if we Manhattanites only supported in Manhattan schools. So we have Columbia, NYU, Pace, Parsons, FIT, Pratt Manhattan, etc. etcetera, do we really need the SUNY consortium to make Manhattan a haven for higher learning? GET REAL!
One more thing. I'm not sure what the proportion of upstate prison facilities are filled with Manhattan based criminals versus outer boro (BRONX BROOKLYN for example) criminals. Do you have percentages on that?
it's bottled up with the anti workplace bullying/harassment legislation as well.
I was in favor of congestion pricing until they priced that shit at 8 dollars!!! what the fuck? I was thinking 2-5 bucks. at 8 dollars you know they are gonna price the shit out of food and essentials in manhattan cause it's gonna cost an arm and a leg just to get that shit through the borders. one day you are paying 0 bucks to drive into manhattan every day and now you'll be paying 3000 dollars every year! that shit is crazy! And you know that the congestion pricing tollbooths will back up traffic like mad. In the end no one really benefits except the extremely rich of manhattan who don't have to deal with as much people. Middle class people in manhattan will feel the pinch from higher prices on everything.
To the idiot who wrote :
Without Manhattan all the outer boros are just that, outer boros, they might as well be in Jersey.
Without Manhattan, Brooklyn would be the fourth largest city in the United States of America.
The outer boroughs subsidize the lifestyle of Manhattanites.
Xenop, Big deal so Brooklyn would be the fourth largest city in the world. I believe India has the second largest population in the world, so what are you trying to convey? Why don't you just separate from NYC and live a life as the bedroom community that it is? At its best its only a flatland nothing piece of stroller mania. Go live in East New York, or Bed Stuy or any of the other great communities that are filled with up and coming and burned out buildings and individuals.
Manhattan supports their outer boros and they are lucky to have a place to work thanks to Manhattan.
no one talks about the quality of life in Manhattan. The stinking polluted air and unsafe streets. Living in the 'burbs is not an option for us, but we will leave this area and go back to the west coast simply because of the disgusting environment in this city, and this entire region for that matter.
Its politics as usual in this city and state. Sheldon Silver is a crook. Bloomberg is making an effort for his most valued residents. I can make my own pizza, please keep your co2 spewing SUV in Montclair or Scarsdale, we do not need you here. If this fails, it will be another pathetic example of the ineffective and politically motivated decisions these elected "leaders" make, so some fat guy from Brooklyn who calls himself a council man can get reelected and bang more hookers.
and I love the fast that Bloomberg will throw his personal money to who runs against Silver. Bring it on, get this creep out!
"oh this will hurt the poor" oh boo hoo.
If you are poor enough to pay an 8$ toll, you are way to poor to drive your car into Manhattan and park the damn thing, oh, and run over bicyclists and pedestrians.