In other news, I noticed that Chris Ward is mentioned as the most likely person to be named executive director at the Port Authority. You guys should like that as he was one of the prime movers in support of CP. He was doing it in his capacity as the head of the General Contractors Association — a trade group of companies that benefit most from huge capital budget expenditures — but still, he was doing it.

I want to have a real dialogue – and I do, just not with you. Sometimes congestion pricing skeptics are genuinely interested in making the streets safe and pleasant for pedestrians instead of repeating the same tired arguments.

I repeat, if you want us to trust you and pay attention to what you say, show us that you actually care about the same issues we care about.

Go ahead, here we go about why you’re right and I am part of the grand anti-CP cabal that meets in secret to ALL completely agree and get our talking points aligned so that our groupthink can solely exist to destroy the cleanliving righteous livable streets movement. Yes, everyone who didn’t agree with CP is evil and bad and we all 100% agree on the exact reasons about why CP should have been defeated. We are the demons of the earth and we skewed all polls that were in our favor and we control the media and blah, blah, blah.

JF I don’t see you asking that question of everyone. If you are trying to weed people out, don’t post on the internet in a public manner for all to see and discuss. This is not a private forum.

I don’t ask it of everyone, just of people I don’t trust. Since you’ve started posting here (under your various names) you’ve done nothing but criticize. Several times you’ve repeated the same criticism without acknowledging responses that others have made. Of course you’re free to post here, but I assume you want people to actually read and respond to what you write.

I see a lot of good in the movement to alter the nature of the use of public streets

Prove it. Name one thing that’s come out of the movement that you like. I’d also be interested in reading one change you’d like to see to make the streets more livable.

The demand that we are right and everyone else is wrong is what killed CP (in my opinion) and is what kills dialogue in here (in my opinion).

That’s funny, what seemed to kill dialogue in here to me was people coming in and endlessly repeating the same anti-CP arguments without listening to any responses. When that doesn’t happen, I think we’ve got great dialogue. And I see very few people insisting that “we are right and everyone else is wrong.”

In my defense, I have been riding a bike through the streets of Manhattan and Queens for 20 years. I don’t have a car and I ride mass transit every day. That is my connection to the streets and my right to opine. Calling it the livable streets movement doesn’t help me relate to it; its actually kind of wimpy to me and self-righteous as the streets seem to have lived just fine for many years. But that is just my opinion.

I see a lot of good in the movement to alter the nature of the use of public streets but the arrogance of the movement is hurting it. The demand that we are right and everyone else is wrong is what killed CP (in my opinion) and is what kills dialogue in here (in my opinion).

Statistics and polls are like a bikini – they show a lot but not everything.

LL, I realize that it’s very easy to be misinterpeted in this medium so let me make it clear that I’m well aware of everything you’re saying and I’m not trying to pick an argument. I merely meant to say that the wording of your proposed future question would have to be changed to reflect the fact that no vote was taken. Maybe something like: “Given what you now know about transportation finance, and the measures that have been taken in response to the crisis, are you still glad the State Legislature failed to act on congestion pricing?”

That’s it. Nothing more.

They made a non-decision. With 212 to 0 against, with the exception of those who were out-front in favor before the last day.

I think this particular non-decision was too public for them to avoid accountability, unlike many of their other non-decisions.

It will be if people make an issue of it. “The state assembly voted down CP and now they are raising taxes on me!”

“The state assembly voted down CP and now they are raising fares and cutting service!”

“The state assembly voted down CP and now they are building East Side Access for Long Island but not the Second Avenue Subway!”

Now the reality is, of course, that underfunding transit, paying too much for capital investment, keeping the fare too low and borrowing the difference over 20 years is 3/4 of the upcoming disaster, and rejecting CP is 1/4. But the same SOBs did that too!

“Given what you now know about transportation finance, and the measures that have been taken in response to the crisis, are you still glad the State Legislature voted down congestion pricing?”

Meanwhile, let’s move on to taking a larger share of the free streets and bridges.