Thank Goodness for Dear, Glorious Leader Sheldon Silver

1:31 PM EDT on June 11, 2007

Almost exactly one year ago, Harvard economist Edward Glaeser wrote a great little essay for the New York Sun's op/ed page that asked the question, Does New York Suffer From A Soviet Traffic System?:

The Soviet approach to marketsset prices at some controlled price, and then let shortages ensue.Under this system, millions wasted hours queuing and goods went toconsumers with the time to stand on line rather than to consumers whovalued the goods most. Today, you don't need to go through the messyprocess of getting a visa to Cuba or North Korea to see the socialcosts of under-pricing. Right here in New York, we don't chargeanything for using a particularly valuable resource: car access toManhattan streets.

Today, on the very same op/ed page, the Sun's Jacob Gershman praises the New York State Assembly's Soviet-style political apparatus for throwing a wrench into Mayor Bloomberg's congestion pricing plans:

Thank goodness for Sheldon Silver. Mr. Silver, the obstructionist, the political merchant, the dour face of Albany's status quo, is one of the few voices of caution in the intensifying battle over congestion pricing. Whatever the motive, Mr. Silver and one of his colleagues in the Assembly, Richard Brodsky, have been asking the right questions in a debate that could use a dose of reality.

Aaron Naparstek

AARON NAPARSTEK is the founder and former editor-in-chief of Streetsblog. Based in Brooklyn, New York, Naparsteks journalism, advocacy and community organizing work has been instrumental in growing the bicycle network, removing motor vehicles from parks, and developing new public plazas, car-free streets and life-saving traffic-calming measures across all five boroughs. Naparstek is the author of "Honku: The Zen Antidote for Road Rage" (Villard, 2003), a book of humorous haiku poetry inspired by the endless motorist sociopathy observed from his apartment window. Prior to launching Streetsblog, Naparstek worked as an interactive media producer, pioneering some of the Web's first music web sites, online communities, live webcasts and social networking services. Naparstek is currently in Cambridge with his wife and two young sons where he is enjoying a Loeb Fellowship at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design. He has a master's degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and a bachelor's degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Naparstek is a co-founder of the Park Slope Neighbors community group and the Grand Army Plaza Coalition. You can find more of his work here: http://www.naparstek.com.

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