Traffic Tax Opponents Wooed With Rail Proposal

Mayor Bloomberg is seeking to build two new commuter railroad stations in the Bronx and reactivate two others in Queens with revenue from his proposed congestion pricing charge.

The plan to open four new train stations won support yesterday from Rep. Joseph Crowley, who also endorsed the mayor's proposal to charge cars and trucks to enter Manhattan.

At a news conference, Mr. Crowley, the head of the Queens County Democratic Party, said the additional train stations would mean "a half-hour less getting to the city in the morning and a half-hour less getting home at night."

While the congressman is a useful ally for the mayor as City Hall attempts to win over city congestion pricing opponents, the deciding vote on the vehicular charge is likely to be cast by the speaker of the state Assembly, Sheldon Silver.

Yesterday Mr. Bloomberg said he has not had any recent conversations about the proposal with Mr. Silver, who is known for keeping his positions on major city construction projects secret until the eleventh hour of the negotiations.

Still, the mayor appeared to be in sales mode, trying to win over opponents with the promise of upgraded mass transit. He did not put a price on the four proposed stations, in Co-Op City, Parkchester, Corona, and Elmhurst. But he said: "Congestion pricing funds are designed precisely to support these kinds of important regional mass transit solutions."