But The Best Thing Is That Brian Lehrer Will Finally Stop Talking About It

Many things to take away from the State Assembly refusing to vote on Mayor Bloomberg’s congestion pricing proposal, including . . .

Relief that Bloomberg is not running for president (or hopefully vice president), since he seems to have no skill at dealing with a legislative branch:

“Mayor Bloomberg, after 6-1/2 years in office, still doesn’t have the relationships and the understanding of how to approach this body,” said Assemblyman Michael Kellner (D-Manhattan), a congestion-pricing supporter. “If he had talked to influence-makers and members directly early on, it could have made a difference.”

Also, that people may be starting to resent the condescending Goldman Sachs-type of politician:

This time, however, Silver appeared to favor Bloomberg’s plan, personally, but chose to defer to an overwhelming number of fellow Democrats who . . . [f]elt Bloomberg was too heavy-handed in trying to sell his plan with a variety of behind-the-scenes carrots and sticks. As one Assembly Democrat put it, “The mayor, with his money and power, could roll the [city] Council but he couldn’t roll the Assembly.”

See also:

Last week, with a landmark proposal at a delicate juncture, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s transportation commissioner raced to Albany as part of an all-out effort to persuade state lawmakers to approve a measure to charge drivers entering the busiest sections of Manhattan.

In Albany, the commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan, expressed the mayor’s sentiments, saying: “You are either for this historic change in New York or you’re against it. And if you’re against it, you’re going to have a lot of explaining to do.”

Ms. Sadik-Khan’s remarks were widely noted by Albany lawmakers, with some viewing her tone as condescending. So when it was revealed that the state police had pulled her over for speeding and improperly using her lights and sirens on her way to the Capitol, it only underscored what the legislators saw as the Bloomberg administration’s imperious attitude.

“When Commissioner Sadik-Khan was coming up here telling me I can’t drive, she was busy being driven in a city-owned car by a chauffeur, speeding, getting a ticket with her lights and sirens on,” said Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, a Bronx Democrat and an ardent foe of the program. The proposal was “rotten to the core,” said Mr. Dinowitz, who was handing out copies of a Daily News article about Ms. Sadik-Khan’s citations to fellow legislators.

. . .

Indeed, several lawmakers, already offended by what they saw as the mayor’s past highhandedness, said that the hardball tactics employed by Mr. Bloomberg and his surrogates simply made a bad situation worse. In recent weeks, for instance, the League of Conservation Voters announced the creation of a political action committee positioned to work against lawmakers who did not support the plan.

Mr. Bloomberg is close to the organization, and Kevin Sheekey, his chief political deputy, spoke at a party celebrating the establishment of the committee, called the Climate Action PAC. Both men have hinted that opponents of congestion pricing would face rejection by voters in the fall elections.

“If there are people out there who aren’t helping New York City, I suppose they should fear,” Mr. Sheekey said on Monday, just hours before the Assembly rejected the measure in a closed door meeting. “It’s not the mayor they should worry about.”

But the threatening tone did not sit well with state lawmakers. “I imagine that’s how one becomes a multibillionaire, by being a strong-arm individual,” said Assemblyman J. Gary Pretlow, a Westchester Democrat who opposed the plan. “He’s not going to push us around, though. We are the immovable body at this point.”

And, noting that unmitigated bullshit doesn’t get you anywhere, I wonder if people actually even believe this:

Yet yesterday’s real loser is the MTA, which stood to receive the toll revenue and will now likely face leaner times ahead.

Even with congestion pricing, the MTA had a $9.5 billion hole in its five-year capital plan. Bonds backed by the fee would have provided $4.5 billion, while another $4 billion in bonds would be supported by new state funding and a local match.

“My math is they now have a $17.5 billion hole in a $29.5 billion plan,” said rider advocate Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign. “It’s more hole than it is program.”

An MTA statement expressed disappointment, but said, “We will work with our funding partners to find the billions needed.”

In other words, why don’t you try not spending half a billion on hand scanners or three or four times that on a subway to a vacant lot?

Then there’s this:

New York may have lost $354 million in federal funds yesterday, but U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters has already been looking for greener pastures. Last Friday, she suggested that Seattle consider congestion pricing.

Should play well there! Suckers!

Do Those Council Members Have To Return Their Horses Now?

Somebody ask Fidler! Because the plan is dead:

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s ambitious dream to remake New York City streets with an elaborate plan for congestion pricing died today in a private conference room on the third floor of the State Capitol.

It was there that Democratic members of the State Assembly, who control the chamber, held one final meeting to debate the merits of Mr. Bloomberg’s plan, ultimately voting — in secret — against the idea. The opposition was so overwhelming, said Sheldon Silver, the Assembly speaker, that he would not hold an open vote of the full Assembly, though many Republicans were supportive of Mr. Bloomberg.

“The congestion pricing bill did not have anywhere near a majority of the Democratic conference, and will not be on the floor of the Assembly,” Mr. Silver said after his meeting with fellow Democrats.

. . .

“The word ‘elitist’ came up a number of times,” said Assemblyman Mark S. Weprin, a Queens Democrat, who said his constituents overwhelmingly opposed the measure. “The members who oppose it did so because their constituents opposed it,” Mr. Weprin said. He estimated that opinion among Assembly Democrats ran four to one against the plan.

Our God Is A Vengeful God . . .

. . . so don’t goof with the skullcap, cheese:

Uria Ohana, 25, a member of the Chabad Lubavitch movement, told The Post he entered a subway station alone at Fourth Avenue and Ninth Street in Park Slope at 6:20 p.m. Tuesday.

Ohana said he went through a turnstile and spotted a group of young Arabic men sitting on a bench.

“I wasn’t afraid of anything. I didn’t think anything would happen,” he said.

But something did.

Ohana said he felt a hand grab his brown yarmulke off his head.

He then spun around and came face to face with one of the men, Ali Hussein, 18, police said.

“There were no words exchanged. I decided to chase him to get my yarmulke back,” Ohana said.

Hussein’s friends joined in the foot pursuit, screaming “Allah-hu Akbar,” which means “God is great.”

They ran outside and Hussein darted into the street, where he was hit by a blue Volvo and toppled to the ground, cops said.

“He couldn’t move. He broke his leg. He was crying,” said Ohana.

Never Trust A Man Who Gets That Excited About A Wiretap

The idea that this is somehow better only makes it seem worse:

Sifting for clues in the wreckage of Eliot Spitzer’s stunning, sordid prostitution scandal — and trying to make sense of what no doubt will always contain a large element of pure insanity — that old mob investigation offers a vivid glimpse into the suddenly ex-governor’s psyche. “I don’t think [the prostitutes] were so much about the sex,” says one man who worked closely with Spitzer for many years and thought he knew him well. “There’s definitely an element of self-destruction. There’s complete ‘the rules don’t apply to me’; it’s very arrogant. But Eliot loves covert ops. He always has. The most animated or excited he ever gets is when he talks about running the sting on the Gambino family.”

Stupid Like A Fox

Like the smarmiest teenager, America loves a hypocrite:

According to a law enforcement source close to the investigation, the Democratic governor used the alias “George Fox” when meeting with a prostitute. His alleged conversations with the prostitution ring are detailed in court papers in which Spitzer is identified as “Client 9,” according to a source.

You mean “George Fox” like the Quaker? God, what an asshole.