Jun 15, 2007 8:00 am US/Eastern
Congestion Pricing Federal Funds May Not Exist
Talk Of $500 Million For NYC May Be Just That ... Talk
CBS 2's Magee Hickey contributed to this report.
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
For days, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has promised federal aid to help pay for his controversial congestion pricing plan. But CBS 2 HD has obtained a confidential document that threatens to derail the mayor's plan.
"It makes the need to enact congestion-pricing legislation more urgent," Bloomberg said on June 7.
That was Bloomberg at a press conference with federal Transportation Secretary Mary Peters. You know, the one where she promised New York City $500 million if it enacts a congestion-pricing plan.
"The plan will keep the city that never sleeps from becoming the city that never moves," Peters said.
On Thursday, the mayor continued to dangle the fed's money as the reason to pass his plan.
"If we don't qualify as one of the five finalists, and we are one of the nine semifinalists, that money is just not there," Bloomberg said.
Well, it seems the money may not be there now anyway.
An exclusive document obtained by CBS 2 HD raises serious doubts about whether the promised federal funds even exist.
"I write to express my concerns about the assurances of Secretary Mary Peters," began a bombshell letter received by Gov. Eliot Spitzer on Thursday from Rep. Peter DeFazio, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit.
"You should know," DeFazio said, "that Congress has not authorized the congestion initiative or its component parts."
"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 continued.
"Before you rush to enact legislation authorizing the establishment of Mayor Bloomberg's congestion-pricing program, I urge that you obtain all the relevant information..."
At his press conference Thursday, Bloomberg didn't seem to know about the letter to Spitzer, even though the two were together at an unrelated press conference.
"I don't know whether anybody wants to walk away from that kind of money, which would let us really make a big difference," Bloomberg said.
What may be even more troubling is that no money for congestion pricing was included when the House Appropriations Sub-committee on Transportation adopted its budget just three days ago.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg learned of the DeFazio letter late in the day. He sent a letter to Transportation Secretary Peters seeking clarification on the available funds.
So what does this mean for the congestion-pricing plan?
The $500 million was to pay for the three-year pilot plan. If there's no money, how can they do it? CBS 2 HD, like Mayor Bloomberg, is looking for answers.
The DeFazio letter resulted in a flurry of letters between New York and Washington late Thursday.
Bloomberg demanded clarification from Transportation Secretary Peters on whether the money was really available. That prompted Peters to write to Gov. Spitzer. She said she thinks she has the money.
But Peters upped the ante -- and the pressure -- saying she needs a final application by June 22 and approval by the State Legislature by mid-July.
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