Queens Approves Congestion Pricing Plan

The state’s Traffic Congestion Mitigation Commission voted Thursday to approve a congestion pricing plan. The plan, which passed by a vote of 13 to 2, would charge drivers $8 to bring their vehicles below 60th Street during peak traffic times – 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday.

It is intended to reduce pollution and generate $491 million a year in revenue that would be directed toward expanding the City’s mass transportation system.

Corey Bearak, a policy advisor for the same organization, said the tax will mostly affect outer borough residents.
“From its very inception, the public faced a stacked Commission who came to their posts hell bent on tolling and taxing New Yorkers while they protected wealthy folks from the suburbs and out of state,” Bearak wrote.
According to Keep NYC Congestion Tax Free, Queens’ Community Boards 4, 6, 7, 8, 11, 13 have all come out against the congestion pricing.

“Vague promises, intentions – items along those lines simply do not cut it,” McCaffrey said. “The public is far too smart to fall for that kind of foolishness on the part of the commission.”

http://www.queenstribune.com/news/1202400140.html

Well to many non Manhattanites dismay, the congestion pricing plan has been approved. I am still unsure if it will help or just be another drain on commuters, or could possibly flood the Subway system if it deters enough people from driving in.

Queens Community Boards Go Online!

According to the Queens Tribune, community boards 1 through 14 can now access their respective community boards.

You can access the community board website at:
www.queenscb.org

“You can go directly to your local board to access all you need to know about your neighborhood,” Borough President Helen Marshall said during her State of the Borough Address, where the new Web site was unveiled.
Dan Andrews, spokesman for the borough president, said the president had wanted to bring the community boards to a broader audience.

I Think that this is a huge step in the right direction, since there are more people who have opinions and ideas and suggestions for their neighborhood than were regularly attending meetings. The website is still in its "beta" stage as I could not find any content concerning my community board (7). The format of the website also has a few kinks that I hope will be resolved shortly. I encourage you all to get involved since they are making it more viable for the full-time worker as well as the stay at home mom to make our needs heard. The boards are open once a month so make sure to keep up to date for the next meeting.

If you have any questions about www.queenscb.org you can call (718) 286-2900 for additional information.

If you are unsure of which Community Board district you live in here is a direct link to the list for your convenience.

Find Out Which Community Board District You Live In

Thanks for reading,

Mike, We Light Up Queens