Now that congestion pricing has bitten the dust, we offer our comments on what happened in Albany and the City Council.  We will do it in sixteen bullet points, both for clarity and to avoid subjecting you to transitional prose.

We specifically invite you, our readers, to write bullet points of your own.  Not a treatise, such as the ones we wrote on March 31 and April 5, but short, pithy observations, up to 100 words, that we will share with you in a column of responses on our blog. Even though the current plan is dead, the traffic problem is very much alive, and new ways to attack it will be needed to keep congested areas from choking.

 

The leitmotif of this article, repeated in a number of paragraphs, is that not enough people were convinced of the plan's merit, and too many people did not want to pay the $8. Here are our observations: 

 

1. Congestion pricing did not fail simply because Speaker Sheldon Silver did not endorse it.  The plan failed because a substantial majority of Assembly Democrats opposed it vehemently, and Silver did not try to use his power to compel them to support it.

 

2. The plan was approved by the City Council because of the joint efforts of Mayor Bloomberg and Speaker Quinn.  Member items, sometimes called pork, whether cloaked with fictional titles or not, are a significant way to influence individual legislators, by giving them a capital improvement or a service program in their district.  These are the carrots of politics, to be dangled and occasionally eaten.  In this case, such goodies were promised, and we will learn whether or not they are delivered. Such inducements are legal and considered fair, unless done to excess or concealed from the public.

 

3. The fact that the entire Bronx delegation voted for the plan, although Bronx residents would have had to pay tolls and are not directly affected by mid-Manhattan traffic, indicates that political pressure was placed on the pliable pusillanimous public officials, presumably by the powerful party organization. The only Bronx Councilmember who said she opposed  the plan was Councilwoman Helen Foster, who somehow missed the vote. She lingered in the desert sands of Las Vegas an extra day, but the result of her delay did not stay in Vegas.  The Council vote was 30 - 20, with one absentee.  We note that when the Mitigation Commission approved the plan, 13-2, one absentee was Queens Assemblywoman Vivian E. Cook, who had a doctor's appointment on the day the Commission happened to vote.

 

4. The bottom line here is that most people outside Manhattan did NOT want to pay $8 to enter the borough by car, a right they have enjoyed without charge for a century.  They perceived the plan as a tax increase, and measured its impact on themselves.  Some may also have been aware that the $21 fee for trucks to enter the district would be passed along to them one way or another.

 

5. Whether the laundry list of promised transit improvements was genuine or not, few people still believe that the govenment is trustworthy and will keep its word, particularly with regard to promised capital construction. A bond issue to build the Second Avenue Subway was approved by referendum in 1951.  The money was spent, but the subway was not built. As recently as two months ago, new plans to improve service were announced publicly, and then set aside because of falling revenues.

 

6. The phony Federal deadlines for approval of the plan, last July 16 and this March 31, demonstrated again a lack of credibility on the part of the authorities.

 

7. There are good reasons to support congestion pricing, as part of a comprehensive plan to deal with traffic.  But apart from promised improvements in bus and subway service, the plan was not sufficiently publicized to make it part of the public's consciousness. What was offered was largely discounted on the basis of past experience. The only change many people believed would actually take place was the imposition of the $8 fee.

 

8. The liberal elites, civic associations and editorial boards are not strong enough to prevail on a civic issue when most people are opposed to their view, and have made up their own minds on the basis of how they would be impacted.  They do have considerable influence in supporting candidates. All ten Councilmembers from Manhattan voted Yes, and members from other boroughs reflected their constituents' opinion and their own ambitions, dividing 20-20.

 

9. Many legislators opposed the plan because of its perceived effect on their constituents.  But in a democracy, that is likely to happen.  We promote elections and support free choice, but Hamas wins the elections in Palestine.

 

10. Congestion pricing was not frustrated by one man, except insofar as he allowed the members of the Assembly to decide an issue themselves, on the basis of their own views or the political considerations they faced, rather than cajole or threaten them to compel them to do as he wished. He had done that on some occasions in the past, notably with the commuter tax repeal in 1999, but he has done that less frequently recently, and certainly in dealing with Governor Spitzer, a potential enemy, he followed the views of the Democratic conference.

 

11. All the trash talk about Mayor Bloomberg's purported arrogance is not relevant because that did not affect the result on congestion pricing. The plan died, for now, because more people opposed it than supported it.  They may have put their own constituents' interests as drivers above the common good, but that is an aspect of our system of government - elected officials tend to do what the people want. The word 'democracy' comes from the Greek root demos-the people. As Winston Churchill said, it is the worst form of government except for all the others.

 

12. The reason the plan was not allowed to come to a vote is that the legislators did not want to be on the record, pinned down like butterflies on a mounting board, so their votes could be examined by people who want their jobs.  As part of his leadership role, Shelly Silver takes the rap for his members when the editorial boards, or any otherw with power, are displeased with an Assembly decision.  His members are generally satisfied with that arrangement, since it spares them from personal criticism if they take positions that may be necessary but are unpopular.  Of course, if members want to state their own positions publicly, they can do so.  Usually, they don't.

 

13. The media often tends to personalize political controversy.  This was, in fact, one of the less personal issues that the legislature has considered.  The bottom line is simply that too many elected officials, particularly those outside Manhattan, just did not like the plan. They may have done so for selfish reasons, but they reflected what they thought were the views of the people who sent them to Albany. They are usually correct, which is why, along with gerrymandering, lobbyist support and name recognition, they are re-elected year after year. 

 

14. Mayor Bloomberg should not obsess over the result on this issue.  He carried this plan closer to the goal line than anyone else could have. The plan was counter-intuitive to many because people do not like to pay money, especially for something that is presently free. The mayor was on the side of the angels, and most of his core constituency supports what he tried to do. Mike Bloomberg has been a good mayor, in many small ways of which the public is generally unaware. He has run an honest government, at least as far as he and his appointees are concerned. He has made non-political appointments, almost to a fault.  When he is no longer mayor we will miss him. There will be an opportunity for similar public service he could perform in Albany, but no one can begrudge him his resistance to that undertaking.

15. If there is a political calculus in this, one winner is Congresssman Anthony Weiner, who opposed the plan from the start, spoke and testified against it, but was not strident.  Speaker Christine Quinn supported the plan vigorously, and helped procure the Council's approval.  She took a strong position, and should not lose support in the liberal circles which were her base. Comptroller Bill Thompson supported the plan, weakly. The result should have no effect on his prospects, which do not relate to specific issues.

Back to Mayor Bloomberg, he remains the most important player in the city, and will remain quite visible, like Mayor Koch, long after he leaves office. He would never say what Governor Spitzer told the legislative leaders: "This is my room, and we play by my rules."   His popularity bounded upwards after he lost to Silver and Bruno on the West Side Stadium in 2005. He was easily re-elected.. 

People emphasize with an honorable man who can't get everything he wants. New Yorkers generally like their mayor, which is quite good for year seven. We advise him to chill out on this one, and go on to the dozens of other issues which would benefit from mayoral concern.  And, in the unwritten ledger of politics, we think Shelly owes you one.

16. Speaker Silver handled this difficult matter professionally.  He made no statements attacking anyone, and recognized the importance of the issue the Assembly was dealing with.  It is ironic that many of the people who have been calling him a tyrant and a dictator, (allegations not without resonance and in which we have joined) are displeased that he did not exercise his super-powers in this case, rely on Republican votes, and pull together the 76 votes needed for passage of the bill.  But he stuck with his caucus, as he did to override Governor Spitzer's wishes last February in the heated dispute over the State Comptrollership, which the State Constitution gives the legislature the right to fill in case of a vacancy. To conclude, in politics as in life, it is important to remember and appreciate the people who put you where you are.