NYC Preparing to Write Off plan to Charge Commuters Entering City

125th Street, New York City, USA photographer manamanah

Even someone wearing a pair of cheap glasses can read between the lines and see that the New York City plan to charge incoming commuters environmental fees for driving into the city is likely going to be written off on a procedural technicality.  The City's Assembly will likely not vote on the concept and that will void NYC's chance at bringing in $354 million in federal mass transit aid.

But on Monday, Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who killed Bloomberg's plan for an Olympic stadium on Manhattan's West Side, had made no announcement ahead of the deadline, which if missed will cost the city $354 million in federal mass transit aid.

The city's best-known transit advocates had already begun focusing on future battles to get more dollars, adding in a statement: "The Straphangers Campaign is sorely disappointed that congestion pricing will not move forward at this time."

Kevin Sheekey, a mayoral aide, warned lawmakers that they risked angering voters, businesses, environmental advocates and working people if they charge weekday drivers the fees during rush hour for entering Manhattan.

"I don't think they should worry about the mayor, I think they should worry about the other people," Sheekey said on an Albany radio show.

But he also explained why Bloomberg's leadership might have failed. "This was a plan that was advocated by the business community, the environmental community ... In many ways, the mayor came late to the game, put his office behind it."

UPDATE 1-New York anti-traffic fees may die without a vote