Mayor Bloomberg Says City Bridges Are Not For Sale
In the previous entry I mentioned how former Transportation Commissioner Louis Riccio proposed an idea of the MTA buying the Manhattan & Williamsburg Bridges for $1 each. The proposal was made at Monday’s initial Ravitch Commission hearing at NYU. The proposal got a quick response from NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg who nixed it immediately. New York Daily News transit reporter Pete Donohue had this very brief report:
Mayor Bloomberg Tuesday knocked down the idea of selling the Williamsburg and Manhattan bridges to the MTA.
A former transportation commissioner floated the idea Monday, saying the Metropolitan Transportation Authority could impose tolls and raise needed funds for mass transit.
“It is very impractical to only toll a couple of bridges,” Bloomberg said. “You would create chaos in people trying to avoid the tolled bridges.”
Bloomberg champions a congestion pricing scheme that would have drivers pay $6 to go below 60th St. State lawmakers nixed the plan. The MTA wouldn’t need state approval to impose tolls.
I am with Bloomberg on this as selling the city bridges is another band-aid type solution in attempts to cover a huge flesh wound. He is spot on with saying this would create chaos in drivers trying to avoiding the tolled bridges. Many already do this by going out of their way now, add 2 more bridges to the pay list & all hell will break loose.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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