Liu: Mass Transit Better Than Congestion Pricing
BY RICHARD GENTILVISO

No matter what [happens], we have to have something for people in this district who are short of options [to commute to Manhattan]. The idea is to give people more choices," said Liu.

While a special commission studies Mayor Michael Bloomberg's proposed congestion pricing plan, City Councilmember John Liu said the controversial idea to charge drivers coming into Manhattan below 86th Street $8 is the focus of a raging debate.

"There's going to be a lot of discussion over the next several months," Liu, chairman of the council Transportation Committee, said at the September meeting of Community Board 7 in Flushing.

Voters in Queens oppose congestion pricing by 53 to 38 percent, according to a Quinnipiac University Poll released on July 26. Voters in other boroughs, except Manhattan, reject it as well. The numbers against were 59 to 35 percent in Brooklyn, 61 to 34 percent in The Bronx, and 60 to 32 percent in Staten Island. In Manhattan, it was supported by 59 to 37 percent. The margin of opposition, citywide, was 52 to 41 percent.

A 17-member commission was named in August to present recommendations to the council and the state legislature by Jan. 31, 2008. Governor Eliot Spitzer appointed Marc Shaw, a former deputy mayor for Bloomberg, to head the commission. Spitzer also picked two other members. Bloomberg and Council Speaker Christine Quinn each also appointed three members.

With Spitzer, Bloomberg and Quinn all basically in support of congestion pricing, it would appear their nine appointees give them a majority on the commission. The commission became a compromise between proponents and opponents of the congestion pricing plan in the state legislature.

"No matter what [happens], we have to have something for people in this district who are short of options [to commute to Manhattan]. The idea is to give people more choices," said Liu.

Liu believes the best way to give people in his district choice is to provide express bus service. "We have to come up with ways to strongly encourage people to take mass transit," he said.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has promised $354 million to New York if it adopts a congestion pricing plan. The money is slated to mostly go toward improving bus service, according to an August 22 New York Times report.

"Shouldn't the chair of the transportation committee be on that commission?" asked Board 7 Member Phil Konigsberg, reflecting on Liu's position in the Council.

"That would be sensible," said Liu, who is, nonetheless, not on the commission.

One elected official on the commission, appointed by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, is Richard Brodsky, an Assembly Democrat from Westchester. Brodsky has said that the commission is bound by law to look at the overall problem of traffic congestion in Manhattan and to consider alternative ideas to those of the mayor.

Regardless of what the commission recommends, the state legislature is not bound by it. They can approve the mayor's plan, approve a different plan, or decline to approve any plan at all, according to the Times report.

"Will it go through your committee?" Board 7 Chair Gene Kelty asked.

"It will go through my committee and the environmental committee [chaired by Queens Councilmember James Gennaro]," Liu said.

Under law, the commission must hold public hearings and then issue its recommendations by January 31, which then have to be approved by the city council. After that, the law requires the state legislature to consider the plan by Mar. 31, 2008.

"I would advise people to come down [to public hearings] and let it be known that you don't want to be charged for driving into Manhattan, or that you want choices," Liu said.

In other business, the board unanimously approved an "AKA Rider" at College Point Boulevard and 14th Road for "Fred J. Mazzarello Way".