Andy Darrell, director of the Living Cities program at Environmental Defense, has been named to the 17-member state commission charged with studying Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s congestion-pricing plan for Manhattan.
Darrell was appointed by Assembly minority leader James Tedisco (R-Schenectady), his spokeswoman said this morning.
Darrell also serves as New York regional director of Environmental Defense and was a strong advocate for Bloomberg’s plan.
Last week, after the city received a $354 million federal grant to support combating congestion, Darrell said in a statement: "Today's grant is a strong vote of confidence for PlaNYC and the goal of achieving the cleanest air of any big city in America. Less traffic and better transit are essential to sustainability and health. Today, New York gets funding it needs to guarantee that transit improvements will be in place before a congestion pricing pilot project begins. We look forward to working with city and state decision-makers to design the best possible congestion relief and transit improvement plan for the city's future."
James T. Madore
Comments (2)
This (Congestion Pricing) is NOTHING BUT ANOTHER TAX on the people!
When will New York Government learn that it continues to tax to death the people who live in this State? Yet the people accept it.
Congestion Pricing = Surcharge = More Taxation
Jim Kelly - Conservative Campaigns
Motorists using their private property (vehicles) on our public space (roads) which has been publicly subsidized by ALL taxpayers are the true tax on "the people". In NYC, the vast majority of "the people" (95%) do not commute into Manhattan and thus will not be affected by this. This is the truly conservative view.