AS Albany lawmakers hash out their stance on conges tion pricing over the week end, with a deadline tomorrow pending, the fiery debate over the proposal has already produced one sure winner: Al D’Amato.
The former senator was hired last June by the American Bus Association to make sure privately owned bus lines such as Greyhound were excluded from having to pay the congestion fee.
There’s debate over whether the industry group ever needed a lobbyist such as D’Amato.
City officials say that as a condition of their deal with the feds to receive $354 million to launch the controversial program, buses – public and private – couldn’t be charged.
But Peter Pantuso, CEO of the bus association, told The Post, “Somewhere along the line, that changed.”
He said that at one point, waivers were granted only for school buses and publicly owned buses, such as those run by the MTA and New Jersey Transit.
“The [private] buses were in and out a couple of times,” Pantuso said.
To complicate matters, a draft bill in Albany to enact congestion pricing mistakenly included charges for the buses. The error was corrected in the final bill.
D’Amato’s role caught the eye of Assemblyman Richard Brodsky (D-Westchester), the leading opponent of congestion pricing who is incensed that nonprofit groups have to pay the fee for their vehicles while an influential lobbyist apparently secured a waiver for his client.
One source said that if D’Amato did anything, it was before the congestion package ever got to the city.
“The feds required an exclusion for all buses when this came to the city in August. I can’t say what happened between June [when D’Amato was hired] and August,” the source said.
The bottom line: All buses are excluded from the fee, and D’Amato’s lobbying firm, Park Strategies, is picking up an extra $60,000 for the one-year lobbying contract.
While congestion pricing has been a windfall for some, the issue has created a dilemma for Mayor Bloomberg, who now finds himself in an awkward position with a longtime ally.
Rep. Vito Fossella (R-Staten Island, Brooklyn) is refusing to take a position on congestion pricing. But City Councilman Dominic Recchia (D-Brooklyn), who is gearing up to run against Fossella, is supporting the controversial proposal.
So whom does Bloomberg support, his longtime Republican pal or a Democrat who lined up with the mayor at a critical juncture?
Bloomberg has said repeatedly that he’ll be supporting elected officials who support the city, i.e. congestion pricing.
“I would be more than very surprised if the mayor did not support Vito for Congress,” said state Sen. Andrew Lanza (R-Staten Island), who is close to Fossella and is backing the congestion proposal.