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EDITORIAL
Leadership lacking on congestion pricing The utter lack of foresight and leadership some politicians have shown on congestion pricing has been downright maddening. They have a chance to make amends by doing all they can to somehow get this plan passed before the City Council and state Legislature by the March 31 deadline—enabling New York to collect $354 million in federal funds to implement a plan that will generate money for subway and bus expansion while at the same time reducing pollution. Yes, they are right—there are ways to improve the proposal. But their negativity and skepticism have fed the opposition. Refreshingly, proponents like Cheslea Assemblymember Richard Gottfried have championed the proposal for all the right reasons, only asking that lower-income residents don’t suffer as a result. He acknowledged that the plan still faces a tough path to implementation, and believes his fellow elected officials would benefit from a stronger push by the Bloomberg administration to persuade cynics bent on halting it at every opportunity. Assemblymember Deborah Glick, and State Senators Martin Connor and Thomas Duane have been far too negative or silent on the issue. What is their alternate plan to reduce congestion and pollution and fund mass transit? They have not had the good sense of Council Speaker Christine Quinn, their fellow Downtowner and an early supporter, but we are hopeful for an 11th hour conversion. Councilmember Alan Gerson has a clear understanding of every minute detail of this plan, but he has gotten so lost, perhaps in the Canal St. pollution fog, that he can’t see the big picture: Charging drivers 8 bucks to enter Lower Manhattan will reduce the amount of traffic—period. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has been open to supporting the plan, but he has taken an uncharacteristically hands-off approach to the members he has enormous power over. He keeps saying the MTA has a capital budget deficit of about $10 billion, but that assumes congestion pricing passes and the subways get $4.5 billion over the next five years. He can’t just assume it; he’s got to make it happen. And for his Assembly colleagues who oppose the plan, Silver needs to push them for a feasible alternative to improve the choking congestion and inevitable budget shortfalls faced by our weakening transportation infrastructure. What started as a farsighted proposal by the Bloomberg administration has moved closer to reality quicker than many might have expected, so let’s not let the chance to realize this vision pass us by.
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