Volume 77 / Number 41 – March 19 – 25, 2008
West and East Village, Chelsea, Soho, Noho, Little Italy, Chinatown and Lower East Side, Since 1933
Editorial
Leadership lacking Downtown on traffic
The utter lack of foresight and leadership that several Downtown politicians have shown on congestion pricing has been maddening. They have a chance to make amends by doing all they can to somehow get this plan passed before the City Council and State Legislature by the March 31 deadline — enabling New York to collect $354 million in federal funds to implement a plan to generate money for subway and bus expansion while reducing pollution at the same time. Yes, they’re right, there are ways to improve the proposal, but their negativity and skepticism have fed the opposition.
Councilmember Alan Gerson has a clear understanding of every minute detail of this plan, but he has gotten so lost, perhaps in the Canal St. pollution fog, that he can’t see the big picture: Charging drivers 8 bucks to enter Downtown and Lower Manhattan will reduce the amount of traffic — period.
Assemblymember Deborah Glick and State Senators Martin Connor and Tom Duane have been far too negative or silent. What is their alternative plan to reduce congestion and fund mass transit? They have not had the good sense of Council Speaker Christine Quinn, their fellow Downtowner and an early supporter, but we are hopeful for an 11th-hour conversion.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has been open to supporting the plan, but he has taken an uncharacteristic hands-off approach regarding the members over which he has enormous power. Silver keeps saying the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has a capital budget deficit of about $10 billion, but that assumes congestion pricing passes and the subways get $4.5 billion over the next five years. He can’t just assume it; he’s got to make it happen. And for his Assembly colleagues who oppose the plan, Silver needs to push them for a feasible alternative to improve the choking congestion and inevitable budget shortfalls faced by our weakening transportation infrastructure.
Refreshingly, proponents like Chelsea Assemblymember Richard Gottfried have championed the proposal for all the right reasons, only asking that lower-income residents don’t suffer as a result. Gottfried acknowledged that the plan still faces a tough path to implementation, and believes his fellow elected officials would benefit from a stronger push by the Bloomberg administration to persuade cynics bent on halting it at every opportunity.
Opposition by local Downtown politicians to congestion pricing reflects a troubling lack of leadership and a glaring disconnect with local residents. What started as a farsighted proposal by the Bloomberg administration has moved closer to reality quicker than many might have expected, so let’s not let the chance to realize this vision pass us by.
