Nine Bklyn Councilmembers Vote Against Congest Fee
Yesterday the City Council voted in favor of congestion pricing “by an unusually slim margin,” according to the Times. Nay votes from many Brooklyn and Queens Councilmembers contributed to that 30-20 outcome, per a pdf sent out by the Queens Civic Congress (reprinted on the jump). Seven Brooklyn councilmembers—Simcha Felder, Sara M. Gonzalez, Letitia James,…
Yesterday the City Council voted in favor of congestion pricing “by an unusually slim margin,” according to the Times. Nay votes from many Brooklyn and Queens Councilmembers contributed to that 30-20 outcome, per a pdf sent out by the Queens Civic Congress (reprinted on the jump). Seven Brooklyn councilmembers—Simcha Felder, Sara M. Gonzalez, Letitia James, Domenic M. Recchia, Kendall Stewart, Albert Vann, and David Yassky—voted for the plan. On the other hand nine Brooklyn councilmembers voted against congestion pricing: Diana Reyna, Charles Barron, Bill de Blasio, Erik Martin Dilan, Mathieu Eugene, Lewis A. Fidler, Vincent J. Gentile, Darlene Mealy, and Michael C. Nelson. The Brooklyn no-ways were second only to the number from Queens; our Long Island neighbor had 10 councilmembers voting against the proposal, which now heads to Albany for approval.
City Council Approves Fee to Drive Below 60th [NY Times]
Congestion Pricing Passes Council, Brooklyn Vote 9-7 Against [Gowanus Lounge]
Photo by wka.
Who voted for the Congestion Tax (30)
Y – Eric N. Gioia, 26, Queens, Democrat
Y – John C. Liu, 20, Queens, Democrat
Y – Hiram Monserrate, 21, Queens, Democrat
Y – James Sanders, Jr., 31, Queens, Democrat
Y – Thomas White, Jr. 28, Queens, Democrat
Y – Maria del Carmen Arroyo, 17, Bronx, Democrat
Y – Maria Baez, 14, Bronx, Democrat
Y – Gale A. Brewer, 6, Manhattan, Democrat
Y – Inez E. Dickens, 9, Manhattan, Democrat
Y – Simcha Felder, 44, Brooklyn, Democrat
Y – Daniel R. Garodnick, 4, Manhattan, Democrat
Y – Alan J. Gerson, 1, Manhattan, Democrat
Y – Sara M. Gonzalez, 38, Brooklyn, Democrat
Y – Robert Jackson, 7, Manhattan, Democrat
Y – Letitia James, 35, Brooklyn, Working Families
Y – G. Oliver Koppell, 11, Bronx, Democrat
Y – Jessica S. Lappin, 5 Manhattan, Democrat
Y – Melissa Mark-Viverito, 8, Manhattan, Democrat
Y – Miguel Martinez, 10, Manhattan, Democrat
Y – Michael E. McMahon, 49 Staten Island, Democrat
Y – Rosie Mendez, 2, Manhattan, Democrat
Y – Annabel Palma, 18, Bronx, Democrat
Y – Christine C. Quinn, 3, Manhattan, Democrat
Y – Domenic M. Recchia, Jr., 47, Brooklyn, Democrat
Y – Joel Rivera, 15, Bronx, Democrat
Y – Larry B. Seabrook, 12, Bronx, Democrat
Y – Kendall Stewart, 45, Brooklyn, Democrat
Y – James Vacca, 13, Bronx, Democrat
Y – Albert Vann, 36, Brooklyn, Democrat
Y – David Yassky 33, Brooklyn, Democrat
ABSENT
Helen D. Foster, 16, Bronx, Democrat
Who voted AGAINST the Congestion Tax
N – Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr., 32, Queens, Democrat
N – Tony Avella, 19, Queens, Democrat
N – Leroy G. Comrie, Jr., 27, Queens, Democrat
N – Dennis P. Gallagher, 30, Queens, Republican
N – James F. Gennaro, 24, Queens, Democrat
N – Melinda R. Katz, 29, Queens, Democrat
N – Diana Reyna, 34, Brooklyn/Queens, Democrat
N – Helen Sears, 25, Queens, Democrat
N – Peter F. Vallone Jr., 22, Queens, Democrat
N – David I. Weprin, 23, Queens, Democrat
N – Charles Barron, 42, Brooklyn, Democrat
N – Bill de Blasio, 39, Brooklyn, Democrat
N – Erik Martin Dilan, 37, Brooklyn, Democrat
N – Mathieu Eugene, 40, Brooklyn, Democrat
N – Lewis A. Fidler, 46, Brooklyn, Democrat
N – Vincent J. Gentile, 43, Brooklyn, Democrat
N – Vincent Ignizio, 51, Staten Island, Republican
N – Darlene Mealy, 41, Brooklyn, Democrat
N – Michael C. Nelson, 48, Brooklyn, Democrat
N – James S. Oddo, 50, Staten Island, Republican
“Of course, we need not care or be concerned to the hundreds and hundreds of thousands of NYC residents who don’t…and travel to higher crime neighborhoods that most of Brownstoner readers couldn’t find on a map.”
Just to say that this is a forum of people who live in brownstone BK and are dealing with our own issues. People in East NY are going to feel different, obviously.
Don’t worry about making past Bruno. He is in Bloomberg’s pocket since Bloomberg is by far largest contributer to NY Senate Republican committee.
Anyone who works in Midtown- look around when out for lunch…how many private cars do you really see. It is trucks, cabs, limos/black cars.
And when you subtract NJ plates who will pay no more and the gov’t workers (cops, fireman, court, etc, diplomats, handicap) how many are there?
I say eliminate 90% of gov’t permits (Bloomberg’s proposal of 20% shows he is not serious about pollution/congestion) and charge cab/limo riders same (or at least half) of what private cars pay. Then I would cheer the proposal.
well since tish james voted for it, i hope that she also votes for residential parking permits! in fact, these type of permits should be issued to actual HOME OWNERS, not renters before anyone else. please no nasty comments, i pay real estate taxes and i should get a permit before anyone else, especially the renters with cars. if you have a car, you could have used the $30K for a downpayment.
“The problem is Chinatown has not recovered from 9/11”
What? Give me a break! Chinatown has more tourists now than at any time in recent memory. How exactly is the community struggling and how is that related to 9/11?
11:21 is such a racist comment. Yes Chinese do and does take mass transit. The problem is Chinatown has not recovered from 9/11 and by impossing an 8 dollar fee and charge truck an even higher fee will hurt business in Chinatown who depends on delivery of all the produce and goods.
If the mayor is really interested in reducing the traffic in Manhattan, the first thing he should do is make the police and city officials take mass transit. Policemen gets to ride the subway fcr free instead they bring their cars in and clog the streets and park any which way they want to. By the way none of the MTA officers ever use the subway system.
I’m glad this passed the City Council, but doubt it will make it beyond Silver and Bruno.
Think of the upside for tracking all those city employees who drive into the city, and then park illegally. I know it sounds a little big brotherish, but knowing who is causing the congestion is the first step in identifying ways to alleviate it. All we have now are educated guesses and the occassional survey.
Ahh the NIMBY agenda at its best (or in this case). Slefish, Selfish, Selfish.
1st – of course impossing a fee will reduce congestion – I can AFFORD a (nice) car, insurance and even (indoor) parking but I choose not to spend my $ on that when I can take the (tax-deductible) subway (despite the fact that driving would be about 50% quicker) and the higher you make a fee the more people who will choose to leave their car home.
2nd – The idea that this is a tax on the cash strapped working man is simply ridiculous. No regular working man is driving into Manhattan for work Mon-Fri 6-6.
3rd – every SINGLE complaint about how much the fee is , who is exempt (i.e. NJ, Conn) and where the money is spent are debates for AFTER the plan is approved – not a reason to not have congestion pricing in the 1st place.
This is just a manifestation of the same selfishness that guides so much of our politics – Tax the rich! (but only people who make more than me are rich); We need more jails (but not near where I live); Housing costs too much (but I dont want tall buildings) etc, etc, etc,
the V is plenty corwded when i get on it rockefeller