Vallone Votes 'No' On Congestion Pricing
BY RICHARD GENTILVISO

City Councilmember Peter Vallone Jr. explains his stand against congestion pricing after a question was raised by a member of the audience at the UCCA meeting last Thursday.

"Kudos to you, Mr. Councilman," United Community Civic Association (UCCA) President Rose Marie Poveromo, said, praising City Councilmember Peter Vallone Jr. for his vote against congestion pricing.

"I said no," Vallone said. "I'm not going to sell out my community."

Vallone described the now failed attempt to charge drivers $8 to enter Manhattan below 60th Street as a tax on New York City's middle class. "All it is, at the end of the day, is a revenue," Vallone said at the UCCA April meeting.

Vallone was one of nine Queens councilmembers to vote against congestion pricing on March 31, although the measure passed the city council 30 to 20.

On Monday, congestion pricing failed to generate enough support in the state Assembly and senate before the April 7 deadline needed for passage to obtain $354 million in federal money.

"In what state is New York State and New York City?", the topic for the UCCA meeting, came less than a month after scandal forced Governor Eliot Spitzer to resign and be replaced by Lieutenant Governor David Patterson.

"This [topic] couldn't be more timely, given current extracurricular happenings in Albany," said Poveromo.

With state Senator George Onorato and Assemblymember Michael Gianaris still in Albany, Poveromo read a statement from Onorato and Irene Stathos, representing Gianaris, read a statement for the Assemblymember. Vallone was the sole civic government representative present.

Onorato said the delayed budget, due April 1, was the reason he and Gianaris were in Albany. "Not particularly surprising given recent events," he said. He called the issue of congestion pricing highly controversial.

Gianaris said he would have voted no on congestion pricing. "The overwhelming majority of [Assembly] members saw it for what it was, an unfair tax," he said on WCBS.

With congestion pricing no longer an issue, the state's budget is in focus. "I believe we will ultimately end up with a good budget," Onorato said.

One piece already in place is health care. At $59.2 billion, health care comprises almost half the total budget of $124 billion. A major provision was restoration of $273 million in cuts, Onorato said.

Another key item is financing for public schools. Onorato said it would likely be about $1.8 billion, and increase of $600 billion over the original proposal.

Vallone, who is term-limited in 2009 and running for borough president, said congestion pricing was an attempt to make up for $500 million in annual revenue lost from the former commuter ax.

For more than 30 years, New York City had a commuter tax on individuals who worked in New York City but lived elsewhere. But on May 27, 1999, the state of New York passed legislation to repeal the commuter tax for individuals living in New York suburbs. At first, individuals who worked in the city but lived in New Jersey, Connecticut or any other state were still required to pay the commuter tax. However, on Apr. 14, 2000, New York's highest court unanimously ruled the state's attempt to collect an additional income tax from nonresident commuters while exempting New York resident commuters from the same tax unconstitutional.