Congestion Pricing: It's Not Dead Yet

It's been a rough few days for the Mayor. A friend of mine saw him nail down three glasses of wine at a trendy Upper East Side restaurant earlier this week. But all is not bad for the Mayor at the end of this week. Bloomberg's pet project arose from the grave again yesterday as state legislators made a deal that rests more power for the city council and the special commission being set up to examine all the details.

From The Daily News:

The agreement in Albany, which came after days of roller-coaster negotiations, stopped short of granting Bloomberg blanket authority to impose his ambitious congestion pricing plan.

But it gave the city the green light to start setting up the system - without collecting tolls just yet - while a state commission decides if there's a better traffic-busting idea out there.

The City Council and Legislature also would have to sign off. Mayoral aides said they were confident the commission would see it Bloomberg's way, and the Council and Legislature will follow.

Silver remains a tough customer for the press, stating that nothing is certain. The commission could cut out a lot of Bloomberg's ideas over the next few weeks and months. Although I am a fan of this effort, I think it would be good to practice a little power-sharing in New York City when it comes to our Mayor. We already know too well the devastating effects of an omnipresent chief of the city.