Streetsblog New York City

With higher gas prices pushing drivers onto the city's trains and buses, the Daily News today blasted Speaker Sheldon Silver and Assembly Dems for passing up the billions of dollars that congestion pricing would have brought to MTA coffers. 

The trends prove that the theory of congestion pricing was valid: When the cost of driving rises, people actually do switch to mass transit.

Had Silver and the Assembly passed congestion pricing, as the City Council did, the MTA would already be using that $354 million in federal aid (which has now been disbursed about the country) to make more bus and subway seats available.

Then, the congestion fee would have given the MTA a half-billion dollars a year to pay for big projects like completing the Second Ave. subway and extending LIRR service to Grand Central Terminal. When that money vanished, the MTA's building plan was eviscerated.

The agency does not have the money it needs to keep the transit system in good repair, let alone to expand. Gov. Paterson has asked the estimable Richard Ravitch, a former MTA chairman, to hunt up cash.

He'll find no easy fixes. Option 1: Raise taxes. Option 2: Raise fares. Option 3: Congestion pricing.

Pricing foes must be waiting for Ravitch to make the next move, because we've heard virtually nothing from them since the plan was smothered behind closed doors over a month ago -- other than demands for improved transit service.

But what of Brodsky, Glick, and Weiner? Or Bearak and McCaffrey? Where are they now that their storied working class drivers, priced out of their cars, must rely on a beleaguered transit system that doesn't have the fiscal boost promised by congestion pricing?

Oh, right. They're stuck in traffic.

Graphic: New York Daily News 

A tipster who attended last night's MAS event about Moynihan Station sent us this delicious tidbit, in which some small measure of justice is served for Westchester Assemblyman Richard Brodsky's contribution to the killing of congestion pricing:

Scheduled to appear at a panel discussion on the fate of Moynihan Station beginning at 6:30 pm Tuesday at the Municipal Art Society headquarters, congestion pricing foe Assemblyman Richard Brodsky arrived at 7:20 pm, more than halfway through the event. His empty seat prompted more than a few raised eyebrows. At one point, someone observed that Brodsky was "stuck in transit." Kathryn Wylde, president and CEO of the Partnership for NYC, a congestion pricing advocate, riposted: "Stuck in traffic."

When Brodsky arrived, he was contrite. "There was an accident," he said. "This unintentional disrespect I deeply apologize for."

Desperate to look as if they're responding to motorists complaints and prayers, state and federal electeds continue to scramble for a quick fix to ever-rising gas prices.

In Albany, Senate Republicans have adopted the state gas tax "holiday" as their issue of the moment. Since the largely-ridiculed measure is going nowhere in the Assembly, Joe Bruno and colleagues can circulate petitions and distribute mailers like the one above with impunity, scoring cheap political points while accomplishing nothing.

But the diddling in Albany seems innocuous when compared to doings in D.C. Yesterday, with George W. Bush enroute to the Middle East, both the House and Senate overwhelmingly voted to divert oil supplies from the national reserve, even as many lawmakers acknowledged that doing so would at best result in a small, short-term drop in prices at the pump.

City Council Member Joel Rivera, whose stance on congestion pricing remained unclear until he voted "Yes" on March 31st, came out as a full-fledged supporter yesterday with an editorial in the Daily News. The Bronx rep added another wrinkle to speculation that pricing might come back:

Those of us who voted for pricing and those of us who voted against it still owe our constituents a plan that brings traffic relief and funds transit expansion.

I still think congestion pricing is that plan. But pricing or no, we need to move forward and make good on the promises and expectations raised during the past year's debate. The Bronx and New York City deserve nothing less.

Reading words like that from an elected official bolsters Janette Sadik-Khan's assertion that "the terrain has fundamentally changed" when it comes to transportation issues. But as measures like bus lane enforcement cameras come up for debate in Albany, will the wishes of city lawmakers like Rivera sway obstructionists in the Assembly?

State legislators who opposed congestion pricing are shocked -- shocked! -- that the New York League of Conservation Voters may hold them accountable for their positions on one of the most important environmental initiatives in recent history.

The Times reports that about a dozen lawmakers, including Bronx Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, are refusing to complete the NYLCV's candidate questionnaire, and have notified the league preemptively to say they don't want its endorsement.

What has irked some lawmakers is what they saw as a threat in the cover letter accompanying the questionnaire. In the letter, the league said it would use its new political action committee, Climate Action, to support candidates who advanced the group's agenda. Some legislators said they viewed that as a veiled warning that the league would use the money it raised through its committee to defeat candidates who opposed Mayor Bloomberg, above, and his congestion pricing plan.

The league or its political action committee "has the right to contribute to any candidate it wants," wrote Jeffrey Dinowitz, a Democratic assemblyman from the Bronx, "but I am deeply troubled by the very clear implication that a candidate will be rewarded or punished based upon a legislator casting a specific vote the way you would want it cast."

Yes, assemblyman, an interest group basing its support on a candidate's record is indeed troubling. Oh, wait ... 

This is the second installment of Streetsblog's interview with Paul Newell, candidate for State Assembly in the 64th District, who's challenging Speaker Sheldon Silver in the Democratic primary this September. In this segment, Newell addresses some of the issues that are fresh in the minds of everyone who followed the death of congestion pricing in Albany without a vote earlier this month. The first part of the interview, about running for office in New York, ran yesterday.

Streetsblog: What made you decide to run? What was the inspiration?

Paul Newell: The inspiration was seeing how Albany's broken and how that impacts
people's lives every day throughout this city and state, and in
particular downtown where I live and work. I've been an organizer for a
lot of years, and increasingly it became clear to me that we are not
going to move forward on new thinking on everything from transportation
to housing and education if we don't have a working system in Albany.
And the reason we don't have a working system in Albany is because of
Sheldon Silver and Joe Bruno.

Read more...

Last week Streetsblog caught up with Paul Newell, who's mounting the first primary challenge to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver in 22 years. Discussing his candidacy, Newell made it clear that he is in it to win it. (He picked up some momentum yesterday, garnering the endorsement of BlogPAC, which describes itself as "a consortium of progressive bloggers from all 50 states.")

We're running excerpts from the interview in two parts. In this segment, complementing our previous look at what it takes to get on the ballot, Newell shares his advice for potential candidates and sheds light on the mechanics of running for office. In the second part, which we'll run tomorrow, Newell talks about why he decided to run against Silver, and how he believes transportation -- and Albany -- should be reformed.

Streetsblog: What's your advice for someone pondering a run for office?

Paul Newell: A lot of people will say that you can't beat an incumbent in New York. And they're wrong. Incumbents do lose, number one. Number two, times have changed. The times when these old machine candidates just turn out, punch out votes and kill any opposition are over. We do not live in that city.

Running for office is an incredible opportunity. You will learn more about yourself, your community, your state, than you ever could. You will meet amazing people, and you will have an opportunity to dramatically change your community for the better. It is fun. It is hard work, and it is worth doing.

In what may be a political first, Paul Newell, who is challenging Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver in the 64th District, mentions "livable streets" as one of his three major planks in this campaign clip. Newell and Luke Henry, another Silver challenger, have both voiced support for congestion pricing. The last time Silver faced a challenger in the Democratic primary was 1986.

Streetsblog spoke to Newell yesterday about what motivated him to run against Silver, his stance on transportation issues, and his advice for anyone pondering a run against an Albany incumbent this election cycle. Highlights from the interview are on the way soon.

In the meantime, we grabbed Newell's transportation bullet points from his website -- posted after the jump.

What went on behind the closed doors of the Democratic conference the day congestion pricing died in the Assembly? According to a constituent letter from Binghamton rep Donna A. Lupardo, the "overwhelming majority" of New York City members were opposed to pricing, and upstate pols followed their lead.

Thank you for your recent email concerning Congestion Pricing for New York City. As a committed environmentalist, I can appreciate how important it is to reduce congestion (and the associated greenhouse gases and asthma producing fumes), etc. It is also critical that we find a way to pay for mass transit upgrades in New York City.

As you know, the congestion pricing bill did not come up for a vote in either the State Assembly or the State Senate. Through six hours of debate in the Democratic conference, the overwhelming majority of my colleagues (all from New York City and the suburbs) expressed their opposition. Honestly, the members representing Upstate New York could not have possibly swayed the outcome. As we are often supported by our New York City colleagues (e.g. The Upstate Revitalization Fund), many felt obliged to defer to the opinions of those who represent New York City.

I'm sure that we have not heard the end of this matter. I will be sure to keep your thoughts in mind as we move forward.

Sincerely,
Donna A. Lupardo
Member of Assembly

So where was Joan Millman when this was going down? Where were Micah Kellner and Richard Gottfried? Where was Sheldon "I probably would have voted for the bill" Silver? Did they speak up or stand down? Conveniently, we'll never know.

By the way, you can place your free recruit-a-candidate ad here.

Upset about the way your State Assembly rep voted on congestion pricing? Here's a novel approach to finding a new one: Craiglist. While Manhattan's Richard Gottfried was one of the few state legislators who supported congestion pricing, at least one Chelsea resident appears to be in the market for a new Assemblyman. And why not? By Craiglist standards, Gottfried is a prized antique. He's been in the Assembly since 1970.

Wanted: Real Reformer for NY's 75th Assembly District (Chelsea)

New York's 75th Assembly district has been represented by an out of touch party hack for over 35 years with little to show for his efforts. Colleagues describe him as indecisive and lacking the leadership qualities to get promoted to the next level. He has also failed to adapt to the shifting customer base.

Even the local newspaper (NY Times) has called him to task in a recent editorial: "New Yorkers deserve to be mad as hell about Albany, and their best revenge is at the ballot box. All they need now is to find decent candidates. In Manhattan, where the Democratic primary is the election, it is time to challenge even the most established members of the Legislature - like Assemblyman Richard Gottfried on the West Side or Assemblywoman Deborah Glick."

Even his website (http://www.richardgottfried.org) hasn't been updated in over eight years. It still lists him as representing the 64th district - before the post-census redistricting.

Help Richard "Dick" Gottfried find a new job by putting in an application for his current one. Serious Reformers Only need apply.