Mayor: 'We Don't Have a Future' If Congestion Pricing Fails

Mayor Bloomberg is stepping up the pressure in his push to convince state and city lawmakers to approve his congestion pricing plan before a federal deadline expires and the city loses its chance to receive $354 million in funding for the program.

Calling recent attempts in Albany to try to extend the deadline by a week "shenanigans," the mayor is directly appealing to state and city lawmakers to make a decision on congestion pricing quickly.

"Either you're going to do it or you're not. And if they're not, then I think we don't have a future," Mr. Bloomberg said.

During a speech on congestion pricing, he attacked an opponent of the plan, Rep. Anthony Weiner of Queens, who has argued that the federal government would send less money to the city if it generated its own revenue through congestion pricing. The mayor described Mr. Weiner's warnings as "insanity."

"I have nothing against any one congressman, but that is one of the stupider things I've ever heard said. Forget the fact that he's one of the congressmen who's supposed to get the money for us, the Democrats control — his party — controls Congress." Mr. Bloomberg said, raising his voice.

"What's he talking about?" Mr. Weiner responded in a statement: "I'm interested in solutions, not name calling. I respect the Mayor, but I don't think the evidence supports trusting President Bush and his cabinet here."

Mr. Bloomberg has until April 7 to win support for his plan to charge drivers $8 to enter Manhattan below 60th Street.

Mr. Bloomberg, who says the program would reduce traffic, improve the environment, and raise money for transportation, faces steep opposition in the state and city legislatures, where many elected officials from Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island say it represents an unfair tax on middle-class residents.

Governor Spitzer supported congestion pricing, but Governor Paterson has not staked out a public position, although he discussed it with Mr. Bloomberg during a meeting at City Hall yesterday.

"This is something that we are reviewing, and we'll see what we can do," Mr. Paterson said after the meeting. "We don't have much time to make a decision, so you won't have to wait long."

A draft of the congestion pricing bill, released yesterday, would create a residential parking program and a fund that would fund transit improvements, two issues that critics have raised.

Mr. Bloomberg said future legislation could help offset the cost of congestion pricing for low-income New Yorkers.

He warned of severe long-term consequences if the plan is not implemented, calling the alternatives to passing congestion pricing "calamitous," and said: "Without this, I don't see any opportunities for major mass transit improvements."

The U.S. transportation secretary, Mary Peters, accompanied the mayor yesterday during his speech and a trip to Staten Island, and she told New Yorkers not to depend on federal money for transportation if they failed to pass congestion pricing, as entitlements and defense spending are eating up the budget.

"Please, please, please, do not look to Washington to send lots of money down here," Ms. Peters said. "It simply won't happen."