Chamber Helps put Brakes on Congestion Pricing

CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD

With less than 10 hours remaining before the federal deadline to approve Mayor Bloomberg’s congestion-pricing proposal expired, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver announced that the Assembly conference did not support the plan and would not take the matter up for a vote. "After hours upon hours upon hours of debate in the Democratic conference, there is just virtually no support for congestion pricing," said Assemblymember Rory Lancman, who has been against the mayor’s plan since he introduced it more than a year ago. "Thus concludes the congestion pricing drama in New York."

The Queens Chamber of Commerce, which represents more than 1,700 small and large businesses throughout the borough, along with City Councilmembers David Weprin and Tony Avella have been leading the fight against any plan to charge motorists to enter Manhattan since March of 2006. "The odds were against us and proponents spent millions of dollars in advertising, but the majority of members from the Queens delegations in the City Council, State Assembly and State Senate withstood the political pressure and helped kill this onerous bill," said Queens Chamber of Commerce President Al Pennisi. "We will not forget those who stood up for our Queens businesses, and we truly thank them for their strength."

Mayor Michael Bloomberg had been lobbying hard for the state legislature to approve the plan by the April 7 deadline in order for the city to qualify for up to $354.5 million in federal funds to help implement the plan. Bloomberg’s proposal would have charged car drivers $8 and trucks $21 to enter Manhattan south of 60th Street during weekdays from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. in order to reduce congestion, improve air quality in the area and raise money for mass transit. "This was a victory for democracy," said Assemblymember Mark Weprin, saying that the Assembly conference carried out the will of the people they represent. "It didn’t have support, and that’s why it died." Lancman said that the plan is unfair to residents of the outerboroughs, including Queens motorists who would feel the brunt of the tax.