Congestion Pricing Foe Bill de Blasio (Grand)Standing Up for Straphangers

Tonight, the MTA will host a public hearing in Brooklyn, where the agency will undoubtedly hear from scores of residents terrified by the prospect of elimination or reduction of service on several of the borough’s bus and subway lines. The self-appointed leader of the charge will be candidate for public advocate and current City Council Member Bill de Blasio, who sent out this e-mail blast ahead of tonight’s meeting (via Gowanus Lounge):

Make Sure Your Voice is Heard. Tell the MTA these cuts and
hikes are unacceptable! Riders in this City already fund a
disproportionate amount of the transit system, and the MTA’s proposed
service cuts would prove dire for millions of working New Yorkers.
Despite tough economic times, straphangers should not be forced to bail
out the MTA. Tell the MTA there is another solution to this problem –
reinstating a commuter tax could create similar revenue without placing
the entire burden on our City’s residents. Join Bill at the MTA hearing on January 28th in standing up for straphangers.

Standing up for straphangers? Is that what de Blasio was doing when he voted against congestion pricing less than a year ago? 

And de Blasio certainly knows the MTA has no control over whether or not there’s a commuter
tax, as surely as he hopes voters don’t see any connection
between today’s “unacceptable” situation and his own failure to get behind measures like congestion pricing. Even now, he can’t bring himself to come out in support of the Ravitch Commission’s recommended tolls on East River bridges.

Instead, let’s attack the MTA on the commuter tax. That’s some real leadership, Bill.