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Jul 15, 2007 7:26 pm US/Eastern
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Bloomberg Hopes God Can Help His Congestion Plan
Compromise Between Mayor, Albany Possible
by Marcia Kramer
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
Mayor Bloomberg has tried everything from logic to arm twisting to get his controversial congestion-pricing plan approved by the state, and on Sunday he tried God. With the deadline set for Monday, the mayor felt he needed to pull out all the stops to ensure state lawmakers support his plan.
In the ninth inning of the congestion pricing battle, Bloomberg took his bat to Harlem's Abyssinian Baptist Church, hoping that the almighty might help him hit a home run.
"We have on the streets of New York too many cars," said Bloomberg. "They are belching fumes into the air." Calling it a "once in a lifetime opportunity," Bloomberg asked the legislature to hold a special session by Monday to approve his
traffic plan, which calls for cars to pay $8 and trucks to pay $21 to enter Manhattan's most heavily traveled business district during workdays, with the money going toward transportation improvements.
The mayor visited three churches in minority neighborhoods to argue that charging $8 to drive into Manhattan's central business district will mean cleaner air and lower asthma rates for their kids. But not everyone was buying it.
"If they move it from midtown then it's going to flow up here and we're going to have congestion uptown as opposed to midtown," said one local resident.
State Senator Ruben Diaz says he doesn't buy the mayor's asthma argument either. "They're using the suffering of the blacks and Hispanics with asthma to get more money for the nice area of Manhattan," said Diaz. "We're not dumb anymore."
Councilman David Weprin of Queens was also opposed to the congestion-pricing plan. He felt the plan would "lead to an increase in pollutants in certain outer borough neighborhoods which already suffer from high asthma rates." Weprin added the city should take steps to improve and upgrade mass transit first then talk about taxing people later.
Supporters of Mayor Bloomberg's plan chanted, "Green the streets," while carrying signs reading, "I breathe, I vote," "I ride buses, I vote" and "I walk, I vote." They warned that unless the Legislature votes Monday to accept $500 million in federal transportation funds, the city won't buy advanced pollution-free buses, a key element of Bloomberg's plan.
It's all about "cleaner air" according to Michael O'Loughlin, of the campaign for New York's future. "Albany should act on behalf of kids who cant breathe."
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who hasn't committed himself on the plan, will decide after he talks with his members Monday.
Sources tell CBS 2 a compromise, if there is one, will center on the establishment of a legislative commission that would look into congestion and have final approval of any plan to fix it.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)