Jun 16, 2007 7:54 am US/Eastern
Assemblyman Questions Funding For Congestion Plan
Says Subways Should Get More Funding
CBS 2's Magee Hickey contributed to this report.
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
Funding for Mayor Bloomberg's controversial congestion pricing plan may not be going as planned. A key state official is publicly questioning whether the mayor will be able to keep his promises on how the money will be spent.
"If you succeed in removing people from their cars and put them in mass transit, what's the guarantee that any of this money gets spent on mass transit," asked Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.
It is the $500 million dollar question from the man who can make or break Mayor Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan.
Assembly Speaker Silver spoke exclusively with CBS 2, saying he agrees with the mayor's goals, but not with his methods. Silver had earlier suggested several alternatives to Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan, including dropping the price to ride the bus or subway during rush hour from $2 to 50 cents.
"I'm absolutely against asthma and I'm against pollution," said Silver. "I think an entire analysis of it (congestion pricing plan) is necessary."
Silver has serious questions about the mayor's plan, especially whether the mayor can guarantee that the $8 fee for cars entering Manhattan south of 86th street will be spent on busses and subways.
CBS 2 obtained a confidential document raising questions about whether a promised $500 million in federal funds actually exists, causing politicians to rethink their views of the plan.
"You should know that congress has not authorized the congestion initiative or its component parts," wrote Congressman Peter DeFazio, Chair of the House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit in a bombshell letter to Governor Spitzer.
"I have serious doubts that New York City or Mayor Bloomberg's congestion-pricing program would be eligible for federal funding under many of those programs...," he added.
With city streets clogged with traffic, the letter set off a frenzy on the part of the city and the feds to make sure the $500 million is real.
Last night the feds upped the ante, drastically shortening the approval deadlines to pressure the state assembly to greenlight the plan.
They now want a final application next week and state approval by July 16.
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