Silver Rakes In Nearly $20K From Congestion-Pricing Opponents

Congestion pricing was a controversial measure, depending on how close you were located to the center of Manhattan as well as how you got to work, people either loved it or hated it. Big personalities dominated on either side, Bloomberg was for it, Assembly Speaker Shelly Silver destroyed it. Oh wait, but he said he supported it (being that his district makes up most of Lower Manhattan) though reportedly not enough Democrats supported it in the Assembly and Silver didn't even let it come to a vote.

The no-vote pissed Bloomie and others off in Manhattan, while Shelly managed to thwart another proposal to fix one aspect of New York like he has so many times in the last decade or two. So now as the primary season heats up and Sheldon is being challenged by Paul Newell and Luke Henry, he needs his friends to come to bat for him and write big checks to put distance between him and them. Want to see who some of those contributors are?

From Streetsblog:

Here's a rundown of major donations to his campaign from groups who sided against pricing or influenced the proposed legislation.

Note that most of the contributions were given before the Assembly's Democratic conference scuttled the pricing bill in a closed-door session. (Groups are located within the state of New York unless otherwise noted.)

• GREATER NY AUTO DEALERS ASSOC.: $3800, March 19
• BLACK CAR PAC: $2500, March 19
• UNITED BUS CORPORATION: $2500, March 14
• HUNTINGTON COACH, LLC: $2500, March 14
• KENSINGTON ENTERPRISES LLC (parking garage): $2000, March 19
• VANGUARD CAR RENTAL USA INC. (Tulsa, OK): $1500, May 16
• SYLVAN FORESTER GARAGE, LLC: $1000, March 19
• CHAMPION PARKING 36 LLC: $1000, March 19
• ENTERPRISE RENT A CAR NY PAC: $1000, March 19

Source: New York State Board of Elections

So not only did the anti-congestion pricing forces come to Shelly's aid, they came right before that important bill wanted to come to the floor. Instead, Silver got his campaign account bulked up and the bill never saw the light of day. In Albany (and many other legislatures) that is how things work when those with power and a lust for large contributions get their way. That is why we must fight bad Democrats like Shelly, and put in better, more progressive ones like Paul Newell or Luke Henry.

The Return Of The Congestion Pricing Saga

You could never count Luke Skywalker out in a George Lucas movie and neither can one give up hope on congestion pricing in New York City. It is being used all over Europe and somewhat in Southeast Asia, and is determined to make its debut in New York. The only thing is it might have to take on a different look to pass the test up in Albany.

From The NY Daily News:

City Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan said it's too soon to eulogize congestion pricing, which died behind closed doors in Albany last month.

"Most big things in New York don't go through the first time around," Sadik-Khan said at a panel discussion at the Regional Plan Association's annual conference.

"At the end of the day, the failure on congestion pricing that occurred last month was just a setback," said a fellow panelist, former Deputy Mayor Marc Shaw. "I think it will be reconsidered in the near future."

He predicted congestion pricing would come back in a somewhat different and "purer" form: tolls at the East River bridges and across 60th St.

No matter the percentage of people that decry congestion pricing and tolls in general, there is going to have to be a way to solve three traffic problems of ours. One is the pollution another is funding mass-transit and last but not least reducing the congestion (duh) in the city. Asthma rates are ridiculous, building projects such as the 2nd Avenue subway and getting as many unnecessary cars out of the city are prerogatives that must be accomplished. So if Bloomberg's vision didn't work out, something else must have to be tried.

Now That Congestion Pricing Is Dead, What Happens Next?

The big news last week from Albany was that key legislators (ahem, Sheldon Silver) decided that the Assembly would not even bother voting on the congestion pricing. That effectively killed it without anyone having to be accountable to their constituents for voting either way for the controversial bill. It would have been a start to (even if somewhat flawed) fixing our region's gridlock that so desperately needs help. Well Federal Transportation Administration head James Simpson came up to NYC to talk about the problem and where to go from here.

From The NY Daily News:

Speaking in Manhattan this morning, Federal Transit Administration chief James Simpson took the Assembly to task for its decision last week not to act on Mayor Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan -- calling it "very disappointing as well as short-sighted."

Apparently some lawmakers view congestion pricing as an “elitist” approach to addressing a problem that has reached crisis proportions, and is only expected to get worse as time passes.

Well, there is nothing “elitist” about miles of gridlock at rush hour. It affects virtually everyone – commuters, truck drivers, taxi drivers, buses, and even straphangers crammed onto the subway. It affects the air we breathe. It affects this region’s ability to provide the mobility that’s so vital to keeping New York a workable, livable community. And it affects our productivity and our quality of life.

Simpson, addressing the New York Building Congress and Construction Industry breakfast, said the feds remain committed to helping fund major N.Y.C. projects, such as improving East Side access and building the Second Ave. subway, but raised concerns about the financing:

First, only a limited number of firms have the capacity required to bid and construct these projects. That raises concerns for us about limited competition, which has implications for how jobs are priced.

Second, we’re concerned about how difficult it is to create accurate cost and performance estimates for these complicated, multi-year transit projects, given the continued escalation of commodity prices. The risk of under-estimating costs -- and incurring additional debt obligations -- is very real.

Basically what he is saying is that New York should have passed congestion pricing to back up the spending from the transportation fuel tax fund. There are still a ton of projects that need to be completed and the cost of these are only going to go up because construction prices continue to skyrocket thanks to the unabated commodities market in addition to the huge building boom that continues throughout the country. He then chides dissenters by talking about the congestion pricing successes in Europe and imagines what the revenue streams would be to build mass transit if we had congestion pricing in our top 100 cities.

So pretty much, he says were screwed unless we change our ways. Um, Mr. Simpson.....duh.

Congestion Pricing May Be Dead, But Our Problems Live On

Thanks to the Assembly Democrats, congestion pricing died a slow death yesterday and boy oh boy did that make the Mayor mad. He heaped tons of scorn on the Assembly and called them all sorts of names. Meanwhile the retort was that because of the Mayor's "high-handed" they decided not to go with him on this one. As The Albany Project points out, there were all sorts of winners and losers on this one, but the most important was New York City and the people that live here and rely on mass transit. Due to political games, we are now $17 billion in the hole for the MTA Capital budget. Where will this money come from? Most likely nowhere.

Bloomberg had his faults on the issue for sure, but most importantly Albany did not like the way he approached them and because of that, they punished all of us for it. That goes especially for Speaker Sheldon Silver. He certainly has his history of playing games with the Mayor and now we lose out even more than that West side stadium deal a few years back, despite those that say it isn't personal. Perhaps not, but it was personal to the millions that need a better funded mass transit system as our city continues to grow.

Now the Mayor is lame duck and congestion pricing advocates are pissed at Speaker Silver. While Bloomberg is finished with his term in less than two years from now, Silver can keep going on indefinitely as long as he keeps getting re-elected. Now that is something we can change. Paul Newell and Luke Henry are running against the shady Silver in the primary this fall and if you want to see a change in Albany, helping to get either into Silver's seat would go a long way to cleaning up that stench in the State House. Both men denounced Silver's tactics in regard to the congestion pricing debacle.

Bloomberg Running Out Of Congestion Pricing Gas

The Mayor is on his last fumes up in Albany and it looks like congestion pricing is going to die a languished death today, at least in terms of the $354 billion dollars in federal money that will disappear. Bloomberg has been quite vocal against the C-P critics and praising all of his allies, but in the end, if you can't get enough of Albany's Finest, then you are shit out of luck.

From The Gothamist:

The fate of the controversial plan to charge drivers entering Manhattan below 60th Street lies with Albany, as state legislators must decide whether to approve the plan by midnight tonight. But Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said last night, "There isn't a groundswell of support for it" among other Assembly members. But most papers are saying the plan is effectively dead.

If Albany can approve congestion pricing today, then the city is eligible for $354 million in federal funds to implement the plan (if not, that money is directed to other cities). Mayor Bloomberg begged lawmakers to pass it, saying yesterday, "[Lawmakers] going to be responsible to their constituents as to why they don’t have buses. When we stop work on the Second Avenue subway, they’re the ones that are going to have to answer.”

Now those are fighting words Mr. Mayor!

Frankly, as a Manhattanite and one that supports the environment and mass transit, I'm in favor of congestion pricing, despite the Mayor's amusing level of passion for the legislation. As someone that lives right off of 2nd Avenue, I would definitely love to see the T line come down the street at some point in my lifetime. Yet like Sheldon Silver said (as much as I detest him) there isn't much of a groundswell for the bill and unfortunately Albany is slow to do anything that might benefit the city.

If the bill doesn't go through in less than nine hours from now, it'll be effectively dead because there'll be no money to make all of those "instant" improvement the Mayor and his pro-congestion pricing groups have promised.

Oh and now there'll be no vote in the Assembly, so um, if you are anywhere near City Hall, watchout for possible Bloomberg tirades!

How The NYC Council Voted For Congestion Pricing

Streetsblog put together a handy-dandy map for all those interested to ogle over and make interesting observations:



One observation is the grey area in the Bronx, where Councilwoman Helen Foster resides. The reason she didn't show up to vote? Her plane was stuck in Vegas. Way to represent the people Ms. Foster!

The Unspoken Part Of Congestion Pricing

Robert Perry of the NYCLU points out a very important issue that the media fails to talk about in the midst of all the congestion pricing hoopla. Sure the money is important, but so is your right to privacy.

Should We Trust The MTA?

Not that it matters at this point in time, but it seems that the congestion pricing debate is out of the public's hands and into the state legislature's. Sure we can still protest to our respective Assemblymembers and Senators, but the support and opposition is pretty solid by now and the Governor is working with Bloomberg to make sure what the city council passed this week goes through as planned. One of the big questions in the congestion pricing debate was whether the money would actually go to improving the system like Bloomberg said. Well N.Y.P.I.R.G. and Straphanger Campaign extraordinaire Gene Russianoff sounded off on the issue this morning.

He's telling us to trust the lockbox:

As a transit advocate for the last 25 years, I share these concerns. We all know stories about how money collected by state and city government hasn't gone where it should, such as Lotto proceeds intended for improving schools.

The Congestion Mitigation Commission (on which I served) proposed a "transit lockbox" to safeguard all congestion-pricing revenues. The legislation approved by the City Council and now under consideration in Albany contains this provision - and strengthens it, by ensuring that congestion-pricing funds can only go to improve, not just maintain, the transit system.

This mandates that congestion pricing won't simply replace state funds the MTA would've gotten anyway. And to prevent political funny business, the money generated by congestion pricing goes directly to the MTA, so that Albany can't take it away.

Well thats great that Albany can't take it away. Though the MTA has a history of saying one thing and doing another, like they did last week when the money from fare increase meant for improving service disappeared. Russianoff claims that we should trust this because he sat on the creation of this lockbox (how Gore-esque of him) and that when the MTA started receiving funds from toll surpluses, it went to good use. Also the capital plan has to be signed off on by the Governor, Mayor and both state houses. That sounds great Gene, that is a great wall of protection that we have installed to prevent abuse of the system. However, this is still New York and despite your best efforts, I still find that the money dedicated to improving our transit system can still be used for "maintenance" purposes.

Why is that? Well, for starters, having maintenance for the NY transit system would technically be an improvement.

Congestion Pricing's Fate Being Decided Now

It may not be the only hurdle for the controversial bill but the New York City Council is deciding if it will pass through their jurisdiction this afternoon. The proposal needs the blessing of the state as well but those prospects look good so far. The conventional wisdom here is that Quinn called the vote today because she came up with the votes. And how might she have gotten that sudden courage?

From The Gothamist:

Mayor Bloomberg appears to have the necessary votes to get congestion pricing passed in the City Council, because the Council scheduled a vote on the matter for this afternoon. The fact a vote has been suddenly scheduled is interpreted as a sign that fellow supporter Council Speaker Christine Quinn has enough votes for approval. The Mayor must have spent his weekend bending ears and twisting arms!

A critical amendment was made to the statewide version of the bill over the weekend that may have changed minds. According to the NY Sun, the congestion pricing plan will be linked to a $1 billion contribution from the Port Authority to the MTA's five-year capital spending budget. The funds from the Port Authority, a joint NY-NJ state agency, allayed some concerns New Jersey residents wouldn't be paying as much as New Yorkers traveling into Manhattan.

There's nothing quite like the sound of "one billion dollars" to help switch a few crucial votes your way. Getting the PANY/NJ to cough that up must have taken some serious arm twisting in of itself. We'll see what the final vote is shortly, but this thing should be in the bag as far as NYC goes.

Bloomberg Praises Paterson For Supporting Congestion Pricing

Not so shockingly, Bloomberg is loving our new Governor for supporting his quest to enact congestion pricing for New York City. After hemming, hawing and making note of Bloomberg's obsession, the terms are changed slightly, for instance starting the zone south of 60th St. instead of 86th St. but for the most part, this is what Bloomberg wants and Paterson's support moves the issue along.

It is crucial that the state and city come together and have a plan before the end of the month so that they secure the hundreds of millions in federal funding that will pay for the implementation of the program. How much will go to capital spending for the MTA's large projects is anyone's guess, but supposedly our decrepit system will be improved to some degree. I'm down in D.C. for the weekend and I always get a little jealous that their system (albeit newer) is cleaner than ours. I would love to have a subway that looked like this, except for the fact that it shuts down overnight and doesn't cover the entire city.

Anyways, now the city council has to handle the issue, and they'll be having a hearing on it in two days time. Anyone can go and show up, but if you have a question it could take hours of waiting to get your chance at the microphone. So if you as passionate about the issue like Mayor Bloomie, then have at it. No matter what anyone has to say from the public forum, it looks like this thing will be a go, but the effect of it is still unknown.

T For Travesty

I know that AM New York went with T for Tardy this morning on their frontpage, but that doesn't do the situation justice. Yet again, the MTA is delaying the Second Avenue subway line, some day to be the T line running up and down the east side of Manhattan. The project was to have its first leg completed by 2013 (63rd-96th St.) but now they're tacking on two more years. You can add that to the 79 years we've been waiting so far since the project was started initially. But this isn't a technical issue, its a money issue and that is ticks a lot of people off.

From AM New York:

Commuters on the packed downtown platform at the 51st and Lexington station were in no mood to sympathize during the Wednesday's evening rush hour. "It's bordering on incompetence at this point," said Max Chee, 35, who was trying to get home to Park Slope. "By the time it's eventually ready I'll be retired."

The one-year delay - the second such postponement in recent months - affects the first stage of the Second Avenue line that will connect 96th Street to 63rd Street.

David Guin, a lawyer who lives in the West Village, sat on a bench watching the shiny metal No. 6 trains that resembled sardine cans rumble past.

"I wait for at least one or two, sometimes three trains to go by before I get on," Guin said. "Anything that would relieve the congestion on this line would do a lot."

By the time this is done, Max's grandkids will be retiring and David will have to let six or seven trains go by. Damn, if I was time-warped to 1929 when they proposed this thing, I'd be 106. I hope to God almighty I'm not a straphanger by that time in my life (if I get there). Enough griping about that though, there is plenty more on this plate.

Remember way back when (November-December '07) the fare increase was being mulled? The MTA said that they wanted to raise the fares for operational costs and save the state allocated money for large projects like....the T line and the Grand Central LIRR connection. Well now both items are delayed and the only thing that changes is that we, the straphangers, pay more starting next week.

And then there's the plan to solve our transportation needs with congestion pricing. Charging more to those that drive into the city so that we can have better mass transit would have been a great idea. Unfortunately many are seeing it now as a way to finance the M.T.A. as is instead of the improvements we were promised. On top of that, there are discrepancies between the Mayor and the M.T.A. on how the funds will be used. So not even the Mayor is able to say with certainty what those additional funds would be used for.

Meanwhile, we keep wasting billions in Iraq......wouldn't it be nice to have a week or two's worth of that to make New York move in the 21st century?

Get Ready For A Push To Price Congestion

The Campaign For New York's Future cares a lot about our growing city, so much so that they are going to advertise on thousands of subway cars, Metro-North trains and the like this coming spring. With a million new people forecasted to be in the city by 2030, something definitely needs to be done, but can the Campaign and their brethren at the Empire State Transportation Alliance influence enough of us to get the message across and the plan in effect?

From The Daily News:

With the March 31 deadline for legislative action on the modified congestion pricing plan looming and the MTA poised to release its capital plan this week, the pro-pay-to-drive Campaign for New York's Future and Empire State Transportation Alliance have launched a TV and print ad campaign designed to build support for the proposal among commuters.

The TV ad that appears below (made by Mark Guma, a political consultant to Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who's going to have to round up congestion pricing votes) starts running today on cable and network TV and will remain on the air for at least the next several weeks.

There's also a series of three print ads, created by the Connecticut-based firm Robbert Advocacy Media, that will be posted on 4,000 subway cars, 4,518 buses and 870 commuter trains through the end of March. One version (the "sneakers" ad that appears here) will also run in Spanish.

There are certainly a lot of local groups behind the effort, far more than the opposing side. Keep NYC Congestion Tax Free will still be working hard on their ground game to keep congestion pricing on the drawing board and off the streets. The spokesman claims that congestion pricing advocates don't give any answers, but what exactly is he contributing to the debate besides more of the same. NYC needs something for the population growth we are going through and the plan is better than nothing.

Feds Show NYC The Congestion-Pricing $$$

Congestion-pricing took a giant leap towards being reality in the city today when Mary Peters of the Department of Transportation announced that NYC will receive $354 million to help implement the system of cameras and tolls that will charge drivers $8 for cars and $21 for trucks to enter Manhattan below 86th St.

From WCBS-TV:

(CBS) NEW YORK Mayor Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan got a big boost Tuesday with the announcement of federal funding. The federal government has agreed to pay $354 million to New York City to help install tolls for drivers entering the busiest parts of Manhattan.

At 10 a.m., U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Mary Peters announced that New York City will receive federal money to put the mayor's congestion plan into place.

The article goes on to paint New Yorkers view of the plan to be terrible, mostly from people driving into the city (who woulda thunk?). Perhaps they'll start to use mass transit and help reduce congestion and increase the air quality around the city (there is a reason its called congestion-pricing). My favorite interview though, was from Manhattan resident Judy Feldman.

Manhattan residents aren't celebrating either. Judy Feldman lives along East 60th St. and sees a majority of the congestion from the 59th Street Bridge. She says she is not sure how much the plan is going to help.

“I don't know how if it's going to help the air quality, it probably will help the congestion,” said Feldman. “Although people that can afford to park in the city and drive in everyday probably won't think of anything else will pay the extra, it's a business expense.”

Dear, reducing the amount of traffic in your area is going to be one of the benefits. Oh and if you think reducing congestion and pollution aren't related, you might want to look at some of the cars in Manhattan and see what comes out of their tailpipes. There is a reason you aren't supposed to breathe that stuff up close, it can kill you. And over time, breathing polluted air reduces the quality of life for all of us. Just a little common sense, ya know?

People are going to bitch and moan about this, but really, we all need to do our part to clean up the air locally so we can help the planet globally. If not for you, for your kids, grandkids, etc. Get my point?

Congestion Pricing On Hold At The Fed Level Too

So Bloomberg was not telling the truth (i.e. lying) last month when he pressed Sheldon Silver and the New York State Legislature to pass his version of congestion pricing. Well Senator Silver didn't believe him and it seems there was good reason not to. Officials at the U.S. Department of Transportation still have the matter on hold, and have not made a decision either way to grant p to $500 million in federal aid.

From The NYT CityRoom:

Supporters of the mayor’s congestion pricing proposal will have to wait a few more days before getting a crucial federal go-ahead on the plan. The United States Department of Transportation, which had been slated to make an announcement on Wednesday about New York’s status in a federal competition for more than $500 million in funds, now says the decision will be delayed.

“We won’t be making the announcement tomorrow,” said Brian Turmail, a spokesman for the department. “We don’t know when it’s going to happen.”

Mr. Turmail would not elaborate on a cause for the delay, but at least one source with knowledge of the situation believed that the department may be redirecting its resources to the federal response to last week’s Minnesota bridge collapse.

Helping the situation in Minneapolis is far more important than any desire for a quick solution to approving funds for congestion pricing. Of course, it still has to be taken care of eventually.

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.

Congestion Pricing: The Aftermath

Monday was a bad day for Bloomberg and his congestion pricing plan. In a week it went from having a chance at being signed into law to a possible option for a special committee to be convened at a later date. Despite Bloomberg's pull down here, he was incredibly ineffective up in Albany. His pal Spitzer abandoned him as did Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith. The Senate did convene at the Capitol, but the Assembly controlled by Silver was down in the City. In the end, Bloomberg lost and conceded to the obvious victor, Sheldon Silver.

From The Daily News:

The mayor rushed from one private meeting with legislative leaders and Gov. Spitzer to the next, avoiding reporters.

The mayor was supposed to appear at a news conference with Republican leaders, but Bruno faced the press alone. Reporters looking for Bloomberg were directed toward one door. He slipped out a different exit.

Spitzer, who had pledged to help Bloomberg win passage, stayed out of sight.

Back in Manhattan, Silver said in late afternoon he would back creation of a commission to study all sorts of traffic-reducing plans - including, but not limited to, congestion pricing. That wasn't exactly what Bloomberg had in mind.

So basically things in Albany stayed the same with no change for NYC. Politics in Albany is a vicious thing. If you don't bow down to the powers that be, you'll land flat on your face like the Mayor did yesterday. Insiders saw it coming a mile away but Bloomberg thought he could roll right through. The Governor learned his lesson with the current set of legislators and stayed far away from the mess yesterday, although that didn't stop Bruno from lashing out at him.

So this my friends is how Albany works. If anyone has the slightest problem with the current feudalistic situation, please vote for someone new next year. End the fiefdoms!

The Story Behind The Death Of Congestion Pricing (For Now)

I am still learning about the dysfunction of New York politics. I know it's bad, but learning the intricacies can take a while. Thankfully I have Jacob Gershman from the Sun to straighten me out (for the most part) on how the whole congestion pricing deal went down and failed because the proponents did not play the game that reformers want to get rid of. Basically Spitzer came in to clear things up in Albany and now he is trying to find his way through the jungle with a pair of snippers instead of his old machete. Bloomberg apparently still needs to learn this lesson.

From The New York Sun:

"Don't push Shelly too hard," Mr. Spitzer cautioned Mr. Bloomberg on how to handle the speaker of the Assembly, Sheldon Silver. The mayor was exasperated: "It's always the same thing. What does Shelly want? How the f--- should I know?" he said, according to an observer.

Mr. Bloomberg and his team of lobbyists proceeded with a do-it-or-else strategy. He presented lawmakers with a message of urgency: If they didn't approve congestion pricing by July 16, New York would forfeit $500 million. He didn't offer a back-up plan for relieving congestion that would enable New York to pocket the federal money even if congestion pricing wasn't approved.

The problem for Mr. Bloomberg was that Mr. Silver didn't buy the story. He sensed the deadline was an arbitrary date chosen by the mayor and Ms. Peters and that the $500 million figure was an inflated estimate. The mayor had put the figure at $400 million last month, and officials in the Spitzer administration are now privately saying available federal funds may be closer to $300 million. Mr. Silver figures it is not in the interest of Ms. Peters to exclude the nation's largest city from her anti-congestion initiative. The transportation department needs to unload the $1.2 billion before Congress returns from its summer recess in September and re-appropriates everything that wasn't given away. The most likely scenario is that Mr. Silver will find a way to secure the money without the Legislature committing itself to congestion pricing. If New York misses out on the grants, he'll just blame the mayor for not coming up with a Plan B.

I personally find this insane, but it is business-as-usual up in Albany. It was wrong for Bloomberg to inflate the importance of the deadline especially since Silver knew he was bluffing. The state government currently is set up based on feudalism with many different fiefdoms. If you don't appease the key players you will end up getting burned and that is exactly what happened. Today will pass with no deal and no money for congestion pricing, dealing Bloomberg a huge political loss of capital.

Meanwhile Silver has the possibility of looking good in the end if he helps appropriate the money for the plan down the road. He'll be the hero and Bloomberg will look weak. It wasn't how the Mayor saw this going down, but he didn't play the game. He probably hates the current system and that his large contributions to the state Republican party backfired. But he doesn't despise it as much as I do. This is why we need to elect representatives that will make the best decisions for New Yorkers and not their personal fiefs.

Silver Reverses Course, Congestion Pricing Funds In Peril

Sheldon Silver said earlier this week that he would examine approving congestion pricing on Monday, the day of the deadline for federal funding assistance. Now he is saying that he will only hold an informal conference downstate instead of officially looking at the proposal up in Albany. Spitzer was working behind the scenes to get the Assembly to convene a special session, but he won't go as far as using his gubernatorial powers to force a session. This might be the end of the Mayor's heavily touted plan to reduce congestion in the city.

From The Daily News:

The GOP-led state Senate expects to pass congestion-pricing legislation Monday - the same day the federal Department of Transportation says is the deadline for the city to tap some $500 million in federal startup funds for the plan.

"There is no flexibility with that," DOT spokesman Brian Turmail told the Daily News from Washington. If Albany drags its feet past Monday, the city won't qualify for the funding, he warned.

The Senate support for congestion pricing means little without a companion measure adopted by the Assembly. Instead of meeting at the Capitol, though, Silver (D-Manhattan) directed city and suburban Democratic Assembly members to gather Monday afternoon in Manhattan for an unofficial conference on congestion pricing.

"If you believe the mayor that this has to happen by Monday, then it's dead, because we are not going to do it on Monday because we won't even be in Albany," said an outerborough assemblyman who asked not to be named.

Bruno's support means nothing without Silver's cooperation. Since he represents a large swath of Lower Manhattan, I'm guessing his rationale is that business will be restricted due to the increased fees. Though I suspect with a Good Old Boy like Sheldon, there are other factors involved. As for the rational thought, reducing congestion actually improves business because people will get to downtown to do business instead of idling on the LIE on approach to the tunnels and bridges.

Of course he probably knows that, so I'm guessing his actions have to do with 'other factors.'

New Life For Congestion Pricing

New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Speaker (D-Manhattan) was one of Bloomberg's biggest critics of the controversial plan to introduce congestion pricing to the city. Now he is willing to reconsider. The deadline for federal funding is this coming Monday and the Mayor needs his support to pass the plan up in Albany. Late last night we heard that there is hope for clearing up the gridlock in Manhattan.

From The Daily News:

A deal is far from certain. But the talks show Silver is at least willing to entertain bringing the Assembly back in time for the city to meet a Monday deadline to qualify for $530 million in federal transportation funds.

"The fact that people who for several weeks haven't had a conversation that we're aware of are sitting down to talk can only be seen as positive," a City Hall source said.

Bloomberg wants to charge cars $8 and trucks $21 to enter Manhattan during peak weekday hours. He says the plan will reduce traffic and help clean the air.

Spitzer has been supportive of the measure, and the state Senate will meet on Monday about the matter.

Monday should be quite a day up in Albany for the fate of congestion pricing. Critics on Long Island are unlikely to budge, but if Silver comes on board and brings a number of Democrats along with him, it might just pass.

Spitzer's Shaming Campaign?

The Governor isn't looking so hot these days. A brutal war between him and the State Legislature has erupted over his no-holds-barred approach to combating the status quo up in Albany. The effect of the strategy has been a lot of gridlock and fighting, especially with Senate Leader Joe Bruno. Apparently compromise isn't on the table from Eliot's perspective. On this summer break, he is going into the districts of Senate Republicans to shame them into reforming business as usual.

From The New York Sun:

The administration hopes to use the added political pressure on Mr. Bruno and his conference as leverage to force him to cooperate with the administration's agenda, including enacting tighter campaign finance rules. "The fourth man in the room is the fact that Bruno's majority is under siege," a top adviser to Mr. Spitzer said. The Republicans now hold 33 seats in the Senate to the Democrats' 29.

The escalation could begin as early as this week. Mr. Spitzer has plans to visit the local districts of a number of Senate Republicans and make speeches singling out the lawmakers for blame — a "shaming tour" similar to his trips around the state in February, during which he attacked Assembly Democrats for defying him by choosing one of their own members, Thomas DiNapoli, to fill a state comptroller vacancy.

Obviously Spitzer has no fear in using this strategy since the last time around in the spring. The question is, will it work. Taking back the Senate from the power-hungry hands of Joe Bruno would be a decisive victory, but there is no chance of it until at least the next election cycle in 2008.

Another problem for Spitzer is that there are many Democrats that disapprove of his politicking and policy proposals as well. Eliot's solution is probably to get rid of those Democrats in the primaries. I am all in favor of a reformer in the Governor's seat and I agree that old, corrupt Democrats need to go just as badly as the old corrupt Republicans. Yet so far nothing has really come to pass so that New York receives the reform it so desperately deserves.