New York City Considers Congestion Charges

New York City mayor Michael R. Bloomberg unveils ambitious sustainability plans.

1 minute read

April 25, 2007, 1:00 PM PDT

By Chris Steins @planetizen


New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg used Earth Day to announce plans to make his burg bloom. The comprehensive "PlaNYC" outlines 127 green dreams, including a congestion charge for lower Manhattan that would -- like programs in London and Singapore -- see drivers cough up a fee for entering the city at peak traffic hours.

Bloomberg also wants to improve public transportation, plant more than 1 million trees, and clean up 7,600 acres of polluted brownfields. The plan would make the Big Apple "the first environmentally sustainable 21st-century city," he said. British Prime Minister Tony Blair concurred in a video appearance, saying the plan would "mark out New York as a global leader in halting climate change." Bloomberg's big ideas face a couple of big obstacles -- state leaders in Albany and money, money, money -- but the biz-minded mayor was optimistic: "Our economy is humming, our fiscal house is in order and our near-term horizon looks bright," he said. "If we don't act now, when?"

(Summary provided via Grist.)

Thanks to Grist Magazine

Monday, April 23, 2007 in The New York Times

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