I'd be hard pressed to come up with even twenty reasons to drive into Manhattan. The only reason I've ever done it is to move furniture.

Why shouldn't you? Both New Jersey Transit and PATH run to Newark where they connect with a city subway system, not to mention both local and express bus service.

Oh so does Amtrak but that wouldn't really be practical.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10426964

BS.

Per the last traffic survey, the biggest group of drivers are 1) government employees and 2) coming from neighborhoods with public transportation. The fact that there are all those fake city parking permits and bs parking lots (ala cadman plaza in brooklyn) has a TON to do with it.

And, if you live where there is no public transportation and need to get into manhattan, you picked the wrong neighborhood. Just because you picked wrong (and that doesn't mean you have the money, tons of low-income neighborhoods have manhattan-bound trains) doesn't mean you get to screw it up for others. If you get screwed by this, then PERFECT. We want your ass off the BQE.

Whether 70, 700 or 7000 people showed up, Slopers concerned about livable streets still haven't demonstrated the political organization to control their own community board's transpo policy --- let alone that there is an organized, grassroots citywide movement that can move this issue through the legislature.

Anyone who really thinks that NYC is at the political cusp of Manhattan pricing zone should help organize a sign-on letter of assemblymembers calling on Sheldon Silver to support it. How many names could you get on it? Can you get the assemblymembers representing Park Slope and downtown Brooklyn to stand-up and call for pricing.

It may seem small bore but I'd be happy to see the tsunami translated into 15% vacancy targets for retail streets in CB 6.

I think it will be no different with congestion pricing. It will take a lot of work to counter Post and Daily News headlines like "Priced Out" that will probably feature one poor shlub from Queens who feels unfairly burdened by a congestion toll or fee. Parking garage companies, gas companies, livery companies and others will have the money to hire PR firms to paint this in the worst possible light, never mind the facts. The media - and not just the Times - has to get behind this policy or it won't pass.

But I don't see it as a tsunami for congestion pricing per se. I do see a reaction to real estate developer-driven Bloomberg years creating a new politics that is moving the city pretty rapidly in the direction of the "livable streets" quality of life urban environmental agenda espoused on this blog -- or whatever you want to call that agenda. It won't all be "livable streets" either. And, yeah, there will be plenty of NIMBYism in it too.

Re: All of the new parking -- The civic groups around Downtown Brooklyn actually don't call for new parking space anymore, for the most part. They mostly understand that more parking in and around Downtown Brooklyn means more car trips through their neighborhoods. They are actually way ahead of the city on that particular issue.

People's understanding of this stuff seems to be way ahead of Bloomberg.

The kind of support Bloomberg had on education is more akin to if he had 40 votes in City Council, plus at least half of car commuters and AAA supporting pricing. All this said, if the MTA faces $1 a ride far hike and a bankrupt capital plan in 2008, it could shake things up.

The public knows Albany is broken. But they didnt do a damn thing to change the equation. Bruno and Silver are still the other two men in the room.

Bloomberg ran his first campaign on the idea of overhauling education and taking somewhat dictatorial control over the system. Granted, he won on 9/11, not on education. But he came in and and he got it done (whether you like the results so far is another issue).

But I see no reason why the next Mayor -- as long as he is identified with the outer borough working man -- couldn't do a similar thing with transportation. All we need is another terrorist attack and an endorsement from Rudy for the pro-congestion pricing candidate and we're in business.

Mayor Doctoroff? Mayor Weiner?

Lord knows Marty Markowitz isn't going to be the guy:

http://nyc.uncivilservants.org/post/index/805

All this said, it remains to seen how high the mayor/DOT can set curb rates before being overruled by the "Pay to Pray" City Council.

In London, because of a once in a lifetime historical opportunity created by "devolution" and the creation of a new mayors office, the mayor had the unilateral authority to impose pricing. The last TfL pricer to pass through, Derek Turner, told an RPA audience a couple of years into London's pricing effort, that had Livingstone had to get pricing through a legislative body it would not have happened.

Compare London where the mayor had the power to impose pricing with NYC where you need the mayor, City Council, state senate, state assembly and the governor all to say yes.

So, this is not about a better bureaucratic structure its about the nature of democracy in New York City. We have a whole additional layer of government here called the State of New York

That's why these comparisons of relative political will between NYC and London are such BS. There's little doubt that, given the authority, Mike Bloomberg would impose pricing in Manhattan's Central Business District. He comes from the same business elite that has publicly backed a congestion zone. But it's not his decision, nor is it even City Council's decision.