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This Week's Attitude
The reference is not to the western hero's loyal steed, but to powerful Albany legislator Sheldon Silver. The assembly speaker was the critical force behind the defeat of congestion pricing, a plan that would limit Manhattan traffic on weekdays and, theoretically, reduce pollution in the process, by not letting it even come up for a vote in the Assembly, where it had been anticipated it would have been rejected anyway. If you didn't know about Silver's long history of adroit political manipulating, you'd never know he was the main force behind the death of congestion pricing. The shrewd politician that he is, Silver shrugged off the non-vote to the media as if there was nothing he could do about it by maintaining that it was overwhelming opposition by his Democratic colleagues from the outer boroughs and nearby suburbs that convinced him to withdraw the vote. Silver's foes contend that by withholding the vote, he took the coward's way out. Yet it parallels Albany's history of do-nothing politics. By washing his hands of the plan, Silver did nothing. Anyone who follows state politics knows the governor, the senate majority leader and the assembly speaker pull the strings that control New York's government. Nothing gets accomplished - or becomes law - in the state capitol without the consent among the three most politically powerful men in the state. New York City's mayor may influence their decisions now and then, but in the end, since Bruno and Silver ascended to power over a decade ago, and whoever the governor is, generally get what they want. This time they got what they wanted, which greatly angered Mayor Bloomberg, who had promoted the environmentally-friendly traffic plan for more than a year, hoping to reap more than $350 million in federal mass transit aid, if the city implemented a workable pollution-reduction strategy. But the mayor's stubborn refusal to alter the plan likely lessened the chances of it passing. The major contention of those opposed to Bloomberg's proposal, based on a similar plan that was initiated several years ago in London, England, was that it was nothing more than a disguised commuter tax on outer borough residents. But at what cost to the driving public? Eight dollars per car and $21 for trucks that drive below 60th Street. When you do the math that comes out to over $2,000 a year for those who drive into Manhattan on weekdays and almost three times as much for vehicles that deliver goods and services to the heart of the city. And a decent portion of the income would likely come out of the pockets of drivers from the outer boroughs. Once an avid supporter of congestion pricing, mostly for its environmental benefits, and the federal largesse, I recently made a 180-degree shift when I learned that anyone driving north or south on Manhattan's east and west side highways would also be charged the $8 fee. For what, the privilege of sitting in pockets of traffic on the FDR Drive or West Side Highway going to or from the George Washington Bridge, the Bronx or upstate? Years ago I discovered an alternate route when I drive to and from upstate through Staten Island and New Jersey just to avoid Manhattan traffic. But Brooklyn residents, who shun the subway and lucky enough to score tickets to Yankee games would have to pay an additional fee simply for passing through the city's wealthiest borough. And should Bronx residents have to pay an extra eight bucks to visit Brooklyn relatives or friends? (Not that they're not worth it!) Pundits with an eye on dysfunctional state politics have said for years that Albany is a place where good ideas go to die - particularly when Silver and Bruno don't back them. In this case an idea with good intentions could have been changed, but instead it died and Silver, for whatever it's worth, ended up looking like the heroic Lone Ranger to congestion pricing advocates. One of the jokes about Silver's hands-off approach to the mayor's pitch is that he's so used to gridlock in Albany, it should linger in Manhattan, too. The chief drawback in the death of congestion pricing was the loss of federal aid for mass transit leaving the MTA, which seems to be continually poorly managed by its glut of overpaid executives, with a bigger deficit projected at more than $17.5 billion. The federal funds were supposed to supplement, among other things, the long-delayed Second Avenue subway project and pay for hundreds of new subway cars, thousands of buses and the repair of dozens of subway stations. Now the Albany legislature will have to find another way to finance those improvements, which will likely result in higher fares, fees and tax hikes sooner than expected. The congestion pricing battle was simply the stubborn mayor being outfoxed by the controlling speaker, which only polishes the Silver lining of another political skirmish.
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