The news broke so late on Friday that you might have missed it, but Streetsblog was first out of the gate with the exciting announcement that the federal government had basically approved congestion pricing, paving the way for one last 30-day public comment period before implementation can begin.
It's now looking like the tolls will go live before summer 2024.
The news means it's all over but the shouting ... from New Jersey lawmakers who claim that congestion pricing is an unfair tax on Garden State residents. That's preposterous, given the tax that Garden State residents have been burdening New Yorkers with for nearly 100 years. Doug Gordon had the perfect bon mots:
— Assemblymember Robert Carroll (@Bobby4Brooklyn) May 5, 2023
In other news:
The anger over the non-arrest of the ex-Marine who killed unarmed Jordan Neely on a subway last week boiled over into protests ... on the subway tracks themselves (NYDN, NY Post, amNY, Gothamist). Meanwhile, the Daily News fanned those "city is divided" flames with a story that suggested the chokehold-using former soldier is a hero. And Bernie Goetz proved once again that he's a jerk, mocking Neely for no reason other than the Post likely egged him on.
Errol Louis had a good piece on the larger issues raised by the Neely killing in NY Mag, while the Times did what the Times does. Hell Gate's overview piece was solid.
Never let it be said that the Adams administration didn't do the least it could do on helping homeless people with mental illness — the Department of Health last week said it would award $200,000 to three social-service providers working with that population. (NY Post)
The Post used its beloved denigration — "woke — to describe Council Transportation Committee Chair Selvena Brooks-Powers for proposing legislation that would require subway cops to carry leaflets detailing how to apply for Fair Fares. What's so bad about that?
Sunset Park vendors are regrouping after the Parks Department completely overreacted back on Easter. (The City)
A cop was injured by a hit-and-run driver uptown. (NYDN)
Finally, we spotted this story on Reddit and reached out to the NYPD, but didn't get any info. Maybe today?
Plans for a major freeway expansion based on over-inflated traffic projections are a wrongheaded way to deal with the region’s rapid population growth.
Purely for political and self-serving purposes, Mayor Adams is attacking congestion pricing — and, in doing so, is undermining the implementation of a program that he has long claimed to be a "strong" supporter of.
Sherif Soliman, who was appointed to the board only last year, quietly resigned on Sept. 22, and the mayor won't get a new person on the panel until next year.
