Assembly Leader Sheldon Silver is putting his mark on the Mayor's congestion pricing plan by not doing anything. Today he said on the radio, "It's unlikely we [the Legislature] can take action within the next week," and then most of Albany has a recess starting June 21. Silver did suggest that the Assembly could discuss the matter when they come back in August,which is when a plan would need to be approved so the city can still get up to $500 million in general grants.
Earlier, Silver voiced concerns about whether congestion pricing would really help the environment; for instance, areas outside the congestion pricing zone have high incidence rates of childhood asthma - will their neighborhoods become more polluted with parked cars?
Bloomberg is no fan of Silver, especially after Silver helped kill the West Side Stadium, but he says that Silver "could not be more open" about hearing the city's pitch.
