Or extorting. Not too many things actually get done simply because they merit getting done, particularly in a situation like NYC's -- limited home rule authority; Bruno and Silver (and a lot of other legislators) hate Bloomberg.

"Maybe, but I just don't believe that he couldn't have lined up support beforehand,"

Couldn't? Who knows, maybe he could have, but clearly he didn't. We don't know whether it's a conscious tactic or not.

"with or without the horse-trading that Psynick suggests is necessary. "

The mayor of NYC does not have the legal authority to impose CP on his own. He needs both local (City Council) and state authorization. I can think of very few examples of a mayor getting a major, complex new policy iniative through both the Council and the State without having to call in political chits and/or make bargains. The stadium and olympics fiascos make it pretty clear that a) state approvals of the mayor's personal priorities ended with mayoral control of the schools b) lining up advance political is not Doctoroff's strong suit.

As many other posters have noted, most of the objections to CP are specious, but have a certain popular resonance. The people making these objections aren't stupid. It's easy to be talked out of these positions. They just need a reason to listen. Do I need to connect the dots any more than this?

------------------------------------------
Thank you for your thoughtful e-mail about congestion pricing and its potential benefits.

I agree with you that this is a very promising proposal. The City is going to gain another million residents by the year 2030, and that is going to mean even more significant challenges for traffic and congestion -- particularly in our area. The Partnership for New York City recently issued a report that shows that traffic and congestion have become a significant drag on the City and the regional economy – costing more than $13 billion and as many as 52,000 new jobs annually. That is a problem that we will need to address.

Of course, the only reasonable way to make this work is to couple such a plan with significantly improved access to public transportation for residents in the outer boroughs. The City Council recently held a Transportation Committee Hearing in Broad Channel, Queens (the Rockaways), where it became abundantly clear to me that there are many New York City residents who simply must rely on their cars to get around -- because of the absence of real mass transit options.

The devil is in the details, and I will be meeting with the Mayor's office to discuss the plan in greater depth. But you should know that I agree with you on the need for bold action to combat our worsening congestion, and have not seen any better proposals to come around to address this problem.

Please do not hesitate to contact me again about any matter at all.

Best,

Dan Garodnick

It is indeed possible that Bloomberg will win something in this round, and even that the non-committal responses are just an indication that some key officials are holding back. But as an outsider, I don't see the kind of support I would have hoped the mayor would have lined up before making this important proposal.

Nevertheless, there is a way out, as I suggested in my earlier post (thanks, Momos, for advancing my point). The anti-congestion pricing arguments are often easy to beat back, esp. when lobbyists completely make up things. And those that aren't deserve a hearing. Let's hope the mayor and allies have a game plan to tackle them.

Don't worry, there is no principled, on the merits opposition to CP, only the usual NY State political BS give and take. The risk here is not that the ill-informed pro-car yahoos will defeat a just cause. The risk is that Bloomberg will misplay the politics. Let's hope he learned the right lessons from the school stadium and olympics fights.

So we could reduce traffic in Manhattan by about 10% (2/3 of the Queens burden) just by building hospitals in Queens??

If it were only that easy!

And what are we to do about "the "significant problem" posed by those who are not driving??

"We have to do something about the pedestrians," McCaffrey said.

Well I suggest we give them guns, but that would only exacerbate the health care shortage in Queens!!

Bloomberg is quoted saying "It's got to be this legislative session. It can't be put off any longer."

The legislative session terminates at the end of this month. That means Bloomberg has just over 3 weeks to get congestion pricing legislation passed.

And how far along is he?

Newsday: "A check of the Legislature's electronic database yesterday [May 4] showed none had been submitted."

Bloomberg will "review details of the plan" with Bruno when he travels to Albany on May 14.

MAY 14!? The session is over 13 business days later! Who in their right mind believes Albany will get behind congestion pricing in 13 days?

Give me whatever Bloomberg's aides are smoking.

Although ACORN hasn't opposed the plan, as JK points out, that's not the same as applying shoe leather to the pavement and advocating for it.

The benefits of congestion pricing for blue collar New Yorkers have not been emphasized nearly enough. If it came to be seen as an environmental justice issue and a means of investment in public services used by the working class, the politics around congestion pricing would dramatically change. Most Democrats would have trouble opposing it in the face of activism by unions and community groups (who now are at best tepidly supporting it or are neutral).

I'm with rhubarbpie on Bloomberg's poor effort to date in laying the political groundwork. Why isn't the tempo faster? Why isn't the campaigning harder? Why is the administration's discussion of the issue delivered to groups like RPA that hardly need convincing?

That is one of the most damning, embarrassing, ignorant quotations I've ever read.

But he still has a chance: First by showing Speaker Silver that Canal Street traffic (in Silver's district) can be reduced and convincing him to back the plan.

Second, by doing a sweep of Queens and Brooklyn to convince residents there (where he is extremely popular) that this is a smart plan. The legislators will likely then fall in place (with a grassroots campaign accompanying the mayor's push).

Bloomberg's already described some of the transit improvements he'd push forward there; why not make the case in a series of town halls right in Liu and Milman's home districts? It's not that tough a sell, since most of their constituents already pay to get into Manhattan. It's called the subway fare.