First It Was Smokers, Then It Was Fried Chicken Lovers, Now Comes Commuters From Outside The City Who Drive (Who Does That Anyway?)

Is Bloomberg being provocative or signaling that he could be amenable to reinstituting the commuter tax? Probably the former:

Mayor Bloomberg said for the first time yesterday he’s open to charging a fee for driving in Manhattan below 60th Street — but only if city residents are exempt.

Congestion pricing — in which drivers pay in advance for the right to drive into the central business district — has been instituted in several major cities, most notably London, where the daily fee is $16.

But despite repeated calls by transportation groups, Bloomberg had dismissed the idea until now.

His new position is a bit of a cop out, advocates say, because state officials are unlikely to support what would inevitably be viewed as a tax on suburban residents. The mayor doesn’t disagree.

“It only works when you give a break to people in the city as opposed to those outside the city,” Bloomberg said.

“That means it’s a commuter tax and the politics of a commuter tax in Albany are probably such that we would never get it passed.”