Vallone Vows Vote Against Congestion Pricing
BY RICHARD GENTILVISO

"I represent you, you have spoken here tonight, and I am going to oppose congestion pricing," Councilmember Peter Vallone Jr. told Community Board 1.

With those words, Vallone confirmed his vote against the plan to charge drivers of cars $8 ($21 for trucks) daily to enter Manhattan below 60th Street between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Speaking at the Board 1 March meeting, Vallone said Mayor Michael Bloomberg had invited him to dinner the previous night to "try to convince me to come on board with congestion pricing".

The mayor, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, and other city officials who support congestion pricing all lobbied him. But Vallone said he told the mayor that while respecting his position on congestion pricing, he also respected those who have a different opinion.

Vallone described the evening as a "full-court press to convince me to come over to [Bloomberg's] side".

Informally polling the filled room of board members and observers at the Astoria Manor, Vallone asked, by a show of hands, for those in favor of congestion pricing, and then, for those opposed. The overwhelming majority raised their hands in opposition.

Saying he was not against the idea of limiting congestion in Manhattan, Vallone called the plan a tax. "I don't think New York City residents should be taxed," he said.

A recent survey in the New York Times showed opposition to congestion pricing among the 51 members of the City Council to be almost two to 1.

Vallone said the city budget this year is "not a good one". Pointing a finger at Albany, he blamed a $750 million turnaround in promised funding from New York state. "There will be some serious cuts," he said, unless the budget changes.

So far, Bloomberg has ordered an additional 3 percent cut on top of 5 percent he has already eliminated from the proposed $58.5 billion 2009 budget for July 1. In October, the mayor asked for 2.5 percent in cuts as well.

The city budget director, Mark Page, has said the additional 3 percent cut (about $500 million) would affect services. New York state Budget Director Laura Anglin has blamed the problem on the worsening economy.

The city budget this year includes $1.4 billion in tax relief, with a 7 percent property tax rate cut and $400 rebate.

Vallone said he expects a cut of 1,000 police officers in the budget. As chairman of the City Council Public Safety Committee, he was scheduled to hold budget hearings on March 19.

"The Mayor and Commissioner Kelly will say we're cutting police officers we don't have," said Vallone, referring to the budget shortfall. "We had 41,000 police officers in 2001 [and] we're under 35,000 now," he said, noting the total is the lowest since 1992-93.

"Not one new police officer came into the 114th Precinct [this year]," he said. "It's not getting any better."