The concept of charging money to come to the center of a business district is something that is new to this country….Sheldon Silver said..
It is????? Where have you been Mr. Silver, apparently you must have come into Buffalo a different way than the 190 wher the Tolls heading into the city were just removed, the booths are still there slowing up traffic and bids have just gone out to remove them. This is not new to Western New York, we have been living with tolls forever and yes they are a commuter tax.

We have to pay to get home and people traveling across Grand Island to go to work in Buffalo and Niagara Falls have to pay a commuter tax.. This guy is either living in a box or the fog in Albany. Hasn’t Assemblyman Hoyt said anything to the speaker about the commuter tax in his district? Hmmmmm, I forgot he is trying to move them instead of getting rid of them.

Silver Is Cool to Fee for Drivers

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Democrat whose district is in Lower Manhattan, sounded somewhat cool to the idea of an extra fee for commuters today. He was asked about Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s proposal after a speech today and had this to say:

Q. Mr. Speaker, how do you feel about congestion pricing?

Well, I think it’s a very complicated issue, but, you know, we’ll need to look at it and discuss it with the mayor and discuss it with the members of the conference. The concept of charging money to come to the center of a business district is something that is new to this country, especially in a city like New York. But, again, I would like to see what the proposed benefits are, and I’d like to see what the impact on business is projected to be. So, that’s basically how I see it. There are a lot of competing interests there.

Q: So it sounds like you have some qualms with that?

Well, it’s a major, major issue. And that’s the other question, you know, below 86th Street, can I do business on Delancey Street or can’t I do business on Houston Street? It’s not a central business district. These are questions that the mayor and I, I’m sure, and others, will have to discuss over years. This is not something that you just do overnight. There’s a lot of thought and study that has to go into it.

Q: How soon do you think such a program would go into effect?

I have no idea if it’ll ever go into effect, much less how soon. I think the answer is there are questions and you have to look at what studies there are on some of those issues that are raised.