April 07, 2008 —ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver says his chamber is rejecting Mayor Michael Bloomberg's proposal to charge a fee to help reduce traffic and pollution in Manhattan.
The vote after days of closed-door negotiations means the city will forfeit $354 million in federal money for kick-starting the initiative. The Legislature faced a Monday deadline to act on Bloomberg's proposal, which was already endorsed by Democratic Gov. David Paterson, the Republican-led Senate and the City Council.
The concept, known as congestion pricing, was proposed to cut traffic and pollution by forcing more commuters onto mass transit. It would have charged most drivers $8 to drive below 60th Street between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Truckers would have paid $21.
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