The best remedy for traffic congestion on the Upper East Side is to spend $500 million on street level boarding, good for the disabled and elderly, non polluting Light Rail on 1st 2nd and 3rd Avenues which can be up and running in less than two years.

Sounds great, George! How do you plan on raising money for it? And what do you do when people who are used to driving down Second Avenue complain that you're taking their lanes away?

The best remedy for traffic congestion on the Upper East Side is to spend $500 million on street level boarding, good for the disabled and elderly, non polluting Light Rail on 1st 2nd and 3rd Avenues which can be up and running in less than two years. Similar solutions have worked in Portland, Sacramento, Denver, Phoenix, Houston and other Metropolitan Areas in North America and Europe. But Light Rail is a 21st century method for solving traffic congestion and air quality problems that is unfortunately ignored by Mayor Bloomberg's PlaNYC, the MTA and the Eastside Democratic Party establishment.

Its just a trial! Give Congestion Pricing it a chance! If it save one life then its worth it!

I think they dislike Bloomberg because he's so successful and does novel and progressive things.

They also live in a distorted world as they can park for free in Manhattan. The council members should have all their placards rescinded. I can understand why police, firemen, or doctors on house call might need placards, but I can't think of anything so important that city council members do that gives them the right to a placard.

Sounds like the mayor learned a thing or two about cogent and persuasive argument from our dear departed friend, Eliot Spitzer, no?

What are these small-minded Silvers, Weiners and others thinking? Nothing in life is risk-free and they will lose this $354 million because of some nit-pick objection.

This is a TRIAL basis to see if CP works while the EIS and other fine-tuning is worked out.

DO NOT LOSE $354 MILLION BECAUSE OF YOUR IGNORANCE OR UNWILLINGNESS TO CHANGE.

If Bloomberg wasn't the driving force, but rather Quinn or Silver or any other heavy-hitting Democrat, this would probably sail through. But it's coming from an independent thinker outside the inner circle of Democrats and putting them in a difficult position they would rather not be in.

But then again, no insider would ever propose something so radical. They'd rather making parking free on Sundays.

[Kellner] said Mr. Bloomberg should not count on the governor to whip up support in the Assembly. "I doubt his first act as governor is going to be trying to shove this down our throats," he said.

Doesn't the free Queensboro Bridge empty out right into Kellner's utterly abused-by-traffic and transit-poor district? God forbid Mayor Bloomberg would try to shove a solution to that problem that down Upper East Sider's throats.

He's not stupid. The thinks most people are either stupid or irrelvant. The relevant people drive and park for free. The arguments are just a side show, and always have been.

I have a hard time swallowing this logic from an assembly person from the UES (no offense UESers--this would be equally ridiculous coming from my assembly person). Besides, it's just ignorant garbage--I'd be willing to wager that the New Yorkers who are so poor that they don't have access to a credit card or a bank account are also the same NYers who don't have cars. In which case, congestion pricing is not going to affect them.