...but the new New York has a lot of promise.
Today Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced his much anticipated NYC 2030 long-term sustainability plan at the American Museum of Natural History.
As already discussed widely through out the blogosphere, one of the most controversial parts of the plan is the congestion pricing scheme aimed at reducing traffic, air pollution and a host of other problems while raising revenues for future transportation projects. The New York Times reports on the highly contested issue:
As a rider and advocate of mass transit, NYC 2029 supports the Mayor's congestion pricing plan...To simplify: fewer cars means less pollution, which leads to a greener NYC.The mayor acknowledged that the proposal for congestion pricing was the most contentious, calling it “the elephant in the room.”
Under the plan, the city would charge $8 for cars and $21 for commercial trucks that enter Manhattan below 86th Street from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays. The charge would be $4 for drivers within Manhattan, and several exemptions would apply. No one would be charged on the Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive or the West Side Highway. There would be no charge for moving cars to comply with alternate side parking, and there would be no charge for taxis.
...Still, the reaction of many officials from outside Manhattan was cool. “I wonder if it is another hidden tax on working people,” said Adolfo Carrión Jr., the Bronx borough president. “I worry about people who need to use their cars to get to work.
However, the plan is not without its critics. Commuters from the outer boro's and NJ, as well as business owners will most likely oppose the plan as a regressive tax that unfairly effects their bottom line.
Check back with NYC 2029 over the next few weeks as we follow how the plan plays out in the Big Apple and beyond...
Throughout the coverage we'll be looking at the important aspects of the plan as they apply to environmental concerns, transportation alternatives, and land use planning in general.
- Bloomberg Draws a Blueprint for a Greener City [NYT]
- PlaNYC [PlaNYC]
