Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is ev erybody’s bad guy in the untimely de mise Monday of congestion pricing – Mayor Mike’s plan to charge a fee to drive in Manhattan south of 60th Street.
But is that really so?
Not quite.
We’re not shy about bashing Silver; his reputation for putting his own personal interests above those of average New Yorkers is surely well-earned.
Silver stabbed Bloomberg in the back three years ago when he shot down plans for a West Side stadium, critical to New York City’s 2012 Olympics bid.
He did his West Side pals in the Assembly a personal favor by blocking use of the Gansevoort pier in the Village as a waste-transfer site – thus elevating his own agenda over the mayor’s carefully crafted waste-management plan.
But in this case, Mayor Bloomberg couldn’t sell a flawed plan.
Lawmakers couldn’t bear to be blamed for what many, particularly in the outer boroughs, saw (with good reason) as a new tax on the middle class. They regarded the fee as an elitist levy on the average Joe and Jane. They failed to trust Mike’s vow that revenues would go to mass transit. And they disliked Hizzoner’s heavy-handed ways.
Clearly, a strong majority in the Assembly opposed Mike’s fee – and the speaker went with the flow.
No, this is one time Silver cannot fairly be called New York spoilsport-in-chief.
Will wonders never cease.