City Leaders Meet in Support Of Mayor’s Plan
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
Business leaders, mass transit advocates, environmentalists, and religious leaders from more than 70 organizations joined together yesterday on the steps of City Hall to voice their support for congestion pricing, a proposal Mayor Bloomberg announced yesterday that has quickly emerged as the most contentious of his 127 initiatives to make New York City healthier and cleaner by 2030.
The proposal, which would charge drivers an $8 fee to drive into Manhattan south of 86th Street on weekdays between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. “keeps our position way out front and really puts us in a position where New York City is leading the way on being cleaner and greener,” the president and CEO of the Partnership for New York City, Kathryn Wylde, said. Trucks would pay $21 under the pricing scheme, and all fees would be offset by any tolls paid to enter the city.
The new coalition, the Campaign for New York’s Future, is working to build support for congestion pricing among voters, City Councilmembers, and state lawmakers, many of whom are already recoiling at what they see as another tax on New Yorkers.
