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Silvers Puts on the Brakes
June 11th, 2007

With Sheldon Silver shaping up as the biggest obstacle in Albany to congestion pricing, his stand gets him boos and cheers.

The Post writes, How typical it would be if Silver once again proved the obstructionist, unilaterally killing a plan that benefits all New York to serve his parochial interests.

But in the Sun, Jacob Gershman sides with skeptical Shelley and other doubters on congestion pricing. (Although since it is Silver were talking about here, Gershman does temper his praise by calling Silver obstructionist, the political merchant, the dour face of Albany’s status quo, and conceding his motives may not be entirely pure). Gershman questions whether congestion pricing will reduce traffic and wonder whether its really a fig leaf for scheme to raise money for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Quoting Fred Siegel, Gershman wonders, If Mr. Bloomberg was seriously intent on combating traffic, why wouldn’t he first roll back the scandalous number of parking permits issued to public employees in Lower Manhattan or do a better job of enforcing traffic violations that contribute to congestion?

Also in the Post Nicole Gelinas thinks leaders in Albany Governor Eliot Spitzer and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno are probably salivating at the prospect of getting those congestion parking fees and feeding them to the MTA. While Bloomberg is seeking to create a new authority to spend those funds, she writes, the mayor may soon learn that while his plan to do an end run around the MTA’s storied dysfunction was creative, the MTA is simply too big, and too dysfunctional, to ignore.

By Gail Robinson on June 11, 2007, 3:47 pm
In category: Albany, Environment, Gotham City, Transportation | 2 Comments »

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2 Responses to “Silvers Puts on the Brakes”

  1. D Barrows Says:
    June 11th, 2007 at 5:36 pm

    IF CONGESTION PRICING SAVES ONE LIFE THEN IT’S WORTH IT!

    CONGESTION PRICING MEANS LESS TRAFFIC AND POLLUTION!!!!

  2. Daniel Millstone Says:
    June 12th, 2007 at 6:10 am

    The problem, in my view, is the rush with which Mr. Bloomberg and Mr. Doctoroff are trying to push this through the Legislature. It may be unrealistic to expect everyone to sign on within the compressed time-frame outlined by the mayor. As one of those strongly in favor of traffic controls and congestion pricing, I remember that it took a while to convince the Mayor. The progress on congestion pricing has been remarkable. The arguments for it are strong.

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