AP News, July 17th, 2007
With his traffic-fee proposal all but dead, Mayor Michael Bloomberg lashed out Tuesday at lawmakers who blocked it, saying they were gutless and had jeopardized a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
A day earlier, the city missed a deadline to qualify for hundreds of millions of federal dollars for the so-called congestion-pricing program. Bloomberg blamed the state Legislature for failing to act on the proposal before adjourning.
"New York City is today poorer because of Albany's inaction yesterday, and I think sadly it appears that we jeopardized, at best, and probably lost, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Bloomberg said. "And demonstrated once again that Albany just does not seem to get it."
Bloomberg pushed for the plan as part of a wide-ranging package of environmental proposals that attracted national attention at a time when he is said to be contemplating a presidential bid.
The plan, similar to systems in London and Singapore, called for an $8 toll for cars and a $21 toll for trucks entering Manhattan's most heavily traveled business district during workdays. The money was to go toward transportation improvements.
Bloomberg said congestion pricing would improve air quality by forcing more people onto mass transit, thereby reducing traffic. But it was not popular outside Manhattan.
In Albany, legislative leaders and Gov. Eliot Spitzer held out hope that the plan could be salvaged, but did not explain how.
And Bloomberg _ while clearly disappointed and pessimistic about the plan's fate _ also said that talks were continuing.
"I don't know that it's dead or alive. I don't think you can characterize that," he said at a news conference.
Bloomberg had harsh words on Tuesday for state leaders, including Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who remained in New York City as the deadline approached, making it essentially impossible to schedule a vote on the plan.
"Some people have guts and lead from the front, and some don't," Bloomberg said.
Lawmakers, in turn, criticized what they saw as Bloomberg's aloof attitude, as well as aggressive lobbying tactics from him and his administration.
Democratic Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, a leading opponent of congestion pricing, said some members felt that Bloomberg had resorted to "threats and bullying" in the final days, while refusing to answer lawmakers' specific questions about the plan.
"He's used to getting his own way," said state Sen. Neil Breslin, an Albany County Democrat who attended a closed-door Senate conference with the mayor on Monday. "But he's dealing with separately elected officials and they won't be treated in a dismissive way."
As of Tuesday, New York City was technically still one of nine cities competing for five slots to share $1.2 billion in federal funding for traffic-reducing pilot projects.
The U.S. Department of Transportation had given the New York Legislature until the end of Monday to approve Bloomberg's plan to be eligible for a $500 million share of that money.
Federal officials plan to announce which cities will receive funding in early August, but Bloomberg said he was not hopeful that New York has much of a shot.
A spokeswoman for the DOT did not return repeated calls for comment.
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Associated Press writers Michael Gormley and Devlin Barrett contributed to this story.
