Queens Chamber of Commerce
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Tony Avella and David Weprin Launch Preemptive Attack on NYC Toll Reform
Remember these guys? This morning, State Senator Tony Avella and Assembly Member David Weprin stood at traffic-choked Queensboro Plaza to say they don't care if the Move NY toll reform plan reduces tolls on bridges near their eastern Queens districts -- they refuse to support any proposal that adds tolls to East River crossings. In a bid to preempt any forthcoming effort to fix the region's dysfunctional road pricing system, they're introducing legislation in Albany to prohibit charging drivers on city-owned bridges. The gesture is pure theatrics, since NYC already can't put a price on those bridges without approval from the state.
December 13, 2013
We Win!!!… a Trip to Albany?
This morning's Crain's Insider names Streetsblog one of the winners of Monday's congestion pricing vote in City Council. While we're honored, no one around here is spiking the ball or dancing in the end zone until New York's famously dysfunctional state legislature is done doing whatever it is they're going to do to the plan. Richard Brodksy is, for now, a loser who "overplayed his hand."
April 2, 2008
Responses to $354 Million Federal Congestion Pricing Grant
Here are two initial responses to this morning's news that the US DOT will grant New York City $354 million to implement Mayor Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan:
August 14, 2007
Congestion Pricing Questions the Mayor Will Need to Answer
New York State Assembly Member Deborah Glick represents Chelsea, Greenwich Village, Tribeca and a good piece of Chinatown and Lower Manhattan. Encompassing the Holland Tunnel, Canal Street and a section of the Westside Highway, her district suffers from some of the worst traffic congestion in all of New York City. Transit-rich and offering some of the city's most walkable and bike-friendly streets (Jane Jacobs lived and worked in this Assembly district) Glick's constituents would likely be among the greatest beneficiaries of any traffic reduction plan.
August 7, 2007
Richard Brodsky: Working for the Public or the Parking Industry?
Westchester Democrat Richard Brodsky has emerged as the State Assembly's leading critic of Mayor Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan. Later today Brodsky will release a report on the steps of City Hall characterizing the Mayor's congestion pricing plan as a regressive tax that puts most of the burden on poor and middle-income drivers (and ignoring the fact that only 4.6% of New York City residents drive to work in Manhattan's Central Business District and most poor and middle-income New Yorkers use transit).
July 9, 2007
Debunking the Attack on Congestion Pricing
As The Politicker's Azi Paybarah reported yesterday, the anti-traffic relief group, "Keep NYC Congestion Tax Free"
re-released its report, "Congestion Pricing in the Central Business District: Let's Look Hard Before We Leap." Commissioned by the Queens Chamber of Commerce, the study calls into doubt the benefits of Mayor Bloomberg's proposed congestion pricing scheme, with some revised numbers from an earlier version they put out a few weeks ago.
May 23, 2007
Anti-Pricing Council Member Has Pro-Parking Industry Fans
With one possible exception, no elected official has been more outspoken against congestion pricing for New York City than Queens Council Member David Weprin. A scan of the city's campaign finance database reveals over 20,000 reasons why that could be.
May 14, 2007
Queens Chamber Continues Campaign Against Congestion Pricing
Foes of congestion pricing marshalled by the Queens Chamber of Commerce held a press conference yesterday at which several politicians from the borough took a stand against the mayor's plan. According to a press release provided by the chamber, City Council Finance Chair David Weprin called the proposal unnecessary: "I don't think City Hall understands that another unfair tax which would hurt working class people is not only uncalled for, but also unnecessary to reduce traffic. Before we tax people more we should first consider trying some simple traffic mitigation alternatives to reduce congestion."
April 25, 2007
Detractors Find Congestion Pricing Facts in Short Supply
Add the Queens Chamber of Commerce to the list of pre-emptive congestion pricing foes.
April 18, 2007
Resolved: More Traffic Congestion & Automobile Dependence
Brooklyn City Councilmember Lew Fidler and a small group of his outer borough colleagues have put forward Resolution 774 "calling upon the Mayor of New York City to oppose the institution of any form of congestion pricing." The resolution is based on a March 2006 report commissioned by the Queens Chamber of Commerce that was, to put it mildly, filled with misinformation and gaping holes about the City of London's congestion charging experience.
April 6, 2007