Editorial: Shameful inaction on congestion pricing

Upstaters have been known to feel resentment for New York City on occasion. After the death of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s congestion pricing plan at the hands of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, they should be feeling sorry for it.

The Big Apple can’t even run its own affairs, can’t adopt an innovative, needed plan that other cities in other countries have successfully used to cut traffic congestion and improve air quality in their downtowns.

Adding insult to injury, Silver says he was in favor of the plan — yet he wouldn’t even put it to a vote, claiming, vaguely and unconvincingly, that most of his Democratic members were against it. Even if this were true, here was a chance for Silver to show some real leadership, arguing for an enlightened program that not only the mayor but the New York City Council, governor and state Senate majority leader all support.

The plan called for tolls of $8 per car and $21 per truck for travel south of 60th Street — midtown Manhattan — weekdays from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. People would still have had the choice whether to drive in, but would have had to pay for the privilege.

It should be remembered that most New York City residents, especially poor ones, don’t own cars; the fee would have been paid largely by suburbanites, who might feel it but could afford it. And the $500 million or so collected each year would have gone not into general revenues, but for improving the mass transit system and avoiding fare increases, which disproportionaely hurt the poor.

Finally, congestion pricing, which would have brought in an additional $354 million in federal aid, wasn’t a stand-alone proposition. It was part of a bigger plan, including bike paths, solar panels, rooftop gardens, etc., to make New York a green city. Bloomberg can still do these things. But when it comes to congestion, says Silver, New York City can choke on it.