N.Y.C. Fee Plan on Hold
New York state lawmakers are bucking at a plan backed by both Gov. Eliot Spitzer and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg for new “congestion fees” on cars and trucks that operate in the heart of the city during peak business hours, news reports said Friday.
The state assembly adjourned Thursday without finalizing action on the measure, which it could address next month, the New York Post reported.
Spitzer vowed to keep pressing the issue in hopes of a deal by a mid-July deadline that would make the state eligible for up to $500 million in federal transit funds, the paper said.
The proposal would charge $21 for trucks and $8 for cars entering Manhattan south of 86th Street between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. weekdays, to cut back on traffic and pollution.
The plan would allow new trucks or those with cleaner retrofitted engines to pay reduced fees.
The Democratic-led state Assembly has been the most vocal opponent of congestion pricing, both the Post and the New York Times reported. Spitzer is a Democrat and Bloomberg in the past week changed his party affiliation from Republican to Independent.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D) has said that any plans to ease city traffic and improve air quality may or may not include congestion pricing, but his Democratic conference overwhelmingly opposes the plan, the Post reported.
