Will Pro-Pricing Council Members Suffer for Their Votes?

City Council members, pressured to approve Mayor Bloomberg's plan, are left to wonder whether their votes will come back to haunt them.

In the days leading up to the vote, members were promised special projects for their districts and even fund-raisers during sitdowns with City Hall staffers, insiders said. Those who opposed it received not-so-veiled threats.

Several Queens members, including Hiram Monserrate (D-Corona) and Eric Gioia (D-Sunnyside), voted for the plan after initially opposing it. Other members of the Queens delegation who voted for the plan were John Liu (D-Flushing), chairman of the Transportation Committee, James Sanders and Thomas White.

Liu said he was unhappy with the way negotiations were handled. The Council was promised it would only be asked to vote if state lawmakers were committed to taking up the issue.

[O]ne Council member angrily noted that even those who "sold out" their districts by voting for the plan will reap the rewards, whether it's a fund-raiser with Bloomberg or a special project in their district.

"I guess they got their 30 pieces of silver," the Council member fumed.