Now that the picks are in, the fix is in.
Opponents of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s congestion pricing scheme are up in arms following the selection of the 17-member commission mandated by the State Legislature to move forward on the toll plan, which would see drivers charged $8 and commercial vehicles $21 on weekdays during peak hours to enter Manhattan below 86th Street. Bloomberg was clearly thrilled with the choices and urged the commission to move forward with his plan.
“Today we are continuing to move forward and work with our partners in state government and in the council to relieve congestion in New York City,” said Bloomberg. “Together, we’ll reduce traffic, improve New Yorkers’ health and strengthen the city’s economy.”
Any hope that the commission would offer an unbiased accounting not just of Bloomberg’s congestion proposal, but of all ideas relating to the issue, have been dashed with the public announcement of the commission’s members. All the elected officials charged with making selections chose a member or members who represent their own views on the subject, or are likely to. Bloomberg nominated his Transportation Commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan, whom the mayor publicly charged with pushing his plan through when he announced it in April. Governor Eliot Spitzer selected Marc Shaw, a former deputy mayor under Bloomberg and a man likely to agree with his former boss and friend on the issue.
But opponents found most offensive City Council Speaker Christine Quinn’s selection of Partnership for New York City President and CEO Kathryn Wylde. Not only is Wylde in favor of Bloomberg’s plan, she’s served as perhaps the most vocal supporter of Bloomberg’s vision on congestion pricing. The commission is stacked in favor of Bloomberg, and opponents of the plan are complaining they will not be given a fair chance.
“I would have hoped that the members of the commission would have had an open mind on the issue, but most have made up their minds already,” said Bronx Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, who has been the most public opponent of congestion pricing in his home borough. Dinowitz thought that the commission would have considered the concerns of outer-borough commuters and given a serious look at alternatives to pricing. “I wonder if that could possibly happen now, given the makeup of the commission.”
Supporters of the plan were not alone in choosing members based on their own biases. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver appointed three opponents of congestion pricing to the panel, including Westchester Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, who has served as the de facto leader of anti-pricing forces in Albany. Silver has appointed the only visible skeptics to the panel, which now stands at 14-3 in support of the mayor, barring any major changes. And they would have to be major.
The State Legislature will make the final decisions, though. And given that the commission was clearly chosen to push Bloomberg’s plan through, Albany legislators are all ready gearing up to dismiss its suggestions.
“The deck isn’t stacked,” said Queens Assemblyman Rory Lancman, an opponent of the pricing plan. “The only deck that really matters is the legislature.” Lancman has introduced his own bill that includes numerous incentives to keep drivers off the roads without resorting to a toll plan, though he worries it will not be seriously considered. “If the panel is both perceived and in fact biased against a certain result,” he said, “then it doesn’t matter what the panel recommends.”
Lancman noted that the State Assembly has seen fit to buck the suggestions of blue ribbon commissions in the past, like when it picked Thomas DiNapoli to replace Alan Hevesi as comptroller over the objections of a Spitzer-endorsed commission. If the 17-member panel does not give serious thought to the ideas of Lancman and others in opposition to the toll, he said, then they would not have done their jobs and deserve to be ignored.
“If the panel makes a good faith effort to address the concerns we’ve had, then they would have been helpful,” said Lancman. “If not, they should not have bothered showing up.”
Whatever the panel eventually recommends, both Dinowitz and Lancman noted that the bill will still have to come before the State Legislature for approval. And Albany will be a whole new ballgame, no matter what the commission recommends. As Lancman said, the only commission that matters is in Albany.
“If the commission votes 14-3 in favor of congestion pricing, it’s not going to move the Legislature one inch,” said Lancman. “We don’t care what the score is when the final vote is taken. It’s up to us.”
Opponents of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s congestion pricing scheme are up in arms following the selection of the 17-member commission mandated by the State Legislature to move forward on the toll plan, which would see drivers charged $8 and commercial vehicles $21 on weekdays during peak hours to enter Manhattan below 86th Street. Bloomberg was clearly thrilled with the choices and urged the commission to move forward with his plan.
“Today we are continuing to move forward and work with our partners in state government and in the council to relieve congestion in New York City,” said Bloomberg. “Together, we’ll reduce traffic, improve New Yorkers’ health and strengthen the city’s economy.”
Any hope that the commission would offer an unbiased accounting not just of Bloomberg’s congestion proposal, but of all ideas relating to the issue, have been dashed with the public announcement of the commission’s members. All the elected officials charged with making selections chose a member or members who represent their own views on the subject, or are likely to. Bloomberg nominated his Transportation Commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan, whom the mayor publicly charged with pushing his plan through when he announced it in April. Governor Eliot Spitzer selected Marc Shaw, a former deputy mayor under Bloomberg and a man likely to agree with his former boss and friend on the issue.
But opponents found most offensive City Council Speaker Christine Quinn’s selection of Partnership for New York City President and CEO Kathryn Wylde. Not only is Wylde in favor of Bloomberg’s plan, she’s served as perhaps the most vocal supporter of Bloomberg’s vision on congestion pricing. The commission is stacked in favor of Bloomberg, and opponents of the plan are complaining they will not be given a fair chance.
“I would have hoped that the members of the commission would have had an open mind on the issue, but most have made up their minds already,” said Bronx Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, who has been the most public opponent of congestion pricing in his home borough. Dinowitz thought that the commission would have considered the concerns of outer-borough commuters and given a serious look at alternatives to pricing. “I wonder if that could possibly happen now, given the makeup of the commission.”
Supporters of the plan were not alone in choosing members based on their own biases. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver appointed three opponents of congestion pricing to the panel, including Westchester Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, who has served as the de facto leader of anti-pricing forces in Albany. Silver has appointed the only visible skeptics to the panel, which now stands at 14-3 in support of the mayor, barring any major changes. And they would have to be major.
The State Legislature will make the final decisions, though. And given that the commission was clearly chosen to push Bloomberg’s plan through, Albany legislators are all ready gearing up to dismiss its suggestions.
“The deck isn’t stacked,” said Queens Assemblyman Rory Lancman, an opponent of the pricing plan. “The only deck that really matters is the legislature.” Lancman has introduced his own bill that includes numerous incentives to keep drivers off the roads without resorting to a toll plan, though he worries it will not be seriously considered. “If the panel is both perceived and in fact biased against a certain result,” he said, “then it doesn’t matter what the panel recommends.”
Lancman noted that the State Assembly has seen fit to buck the suggestions of blue ribbon commissions in the past, like when it picked Thomas DiNapoli to replace Alan Hevesi as comptroller over the objections of a Spitzer-endorsed commission. If the 17-member panel does not give serious thought to the ideas of Lancman and others in opposition to the toll, he said, then they would not have done their jobs and deserve to be ignored.
“If the panel makes a good faith effort to address the concerns we’ve had, then they would have been helpful,” said Lancman. “If not, they should not have bothered showing up.”
Whatever the panel eventually recommends, both Dinowitz and Lancman noted that the bill will still have to come before the State Legislature for approval. And Albany will be a whole new ballgame, no matter what the commission recommends. As Lancman said, the only commission that matters is in Albany.
“If the commission votes 14-3 in favor of congestion pricing, it’s not going to move the Legislature one inch,” said Lancman. “We don’t care what the score is when the final vote is taken. It’s up to us.”
