New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said today that Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's "congestion pricing" scheme for New York City will not be presented for a vote in the Assembly.
Mr. Silver said that the opposition to the controversial proposal was so overwhelming that he would not hold a vote on it.
Today was the deadline for the State Legislature to approve the plan if it was going to be eligible for $354 million in federal funding for traffic mitigation and mass transit aid.
The proposal would have charged drivers $8 to enter Manhattan during peak weekday hours.
Although the plan was supported by some environmental organizations and some local politicians such as City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, it was opposed by many organizations and politicians from the outer boroughs of the city and the suburbs.
In an article in today's on-line edition of The New York Times by Nicholas Confessore, Assemblyman Ruben Diaz Jr., a Bronx Democrat, was quoted as stating that it was "morally reprehensible and unconscionable to subject the 1.4 million residents of the Bronx to a potential double whammy consisting of a congestion pricing tax with absolutely no guarantee that they will not be subject to yet another transit fare hike in the near future and without addressing traffic congestion concerns in any of the four boroughs outside Manhattan."
The article also said that Assemblyman Mark Weprin, a Queens Democrat, estimated that "opinion among Assembly Democrats ran four to one against the plan."
John P. Gallagher, a spokesman for Mayor Bloomberg, said in a statement that "What we are witnessing today is one of the biggest cop-outs in New York's history."
"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," his statement continued.
Gene Russianoff, a lawyer for the Straphangers Campaign, a project of the New York Public Interest Research Group that advocates for bus and subway riders, said his group was "sorely disappointed that congestion pricing will not move forward at this time."
Mr. Silver said that the opposition to the controversial proposal was so overwhelming that he would not hold a vote on it.
Today was the deadline for the State Legislature to approve the plan if it was going to be eligible for $354 million in federal funding for traffic mitigation and mass transit aid.
The proposal would have charged drivers $8 to enter Manhattan during peak weekday hours.
Although the plan was supported by some environmental organizations and some local politicians such as City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, it was opposed by many organizations and politicians from the outer boroughs of the city and the suburbs.
In an article in today's on-line edition of The New York Times by Nicholas Confessore, Assemblyman Ruben Diaz Jr., a Bronx Democrat, was quoted as stating that it was "morally reprehensible and unconscionable to subject the 1.4 million residents of the Bronx to a potential double whammy consisting of a congestion pricing tax with absolutely no guarantee that they will not be subject to yet another transit fare hike in the near future and without addressing traffic congestion concerns in any of the four boroughs outside Manhattan."
The article also said that Assemblyman Mark Weprin, a Queens Democrat, estimated that "opinion among Assembly Democrats ran four to one against the plan."
John P. Gallagher, a spokesman for Mayor Bloomberg, said in a statement that "What we are witnessing today is one of the biggest cop-outs in New York's history."
"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," his statement continued.
Gene Russianoff, a lawyer for the Straphangers Campaign, a project of the New York Public Interest Research Group that advocates for bus and subway riders, said his group was "sorely disappointed that congestion pricing will not move forward at this time."
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
6sqft delivers the latest on real estate, architecture, and design, straight from New York City.
