Alright, so everyone who hasn't been asleep for the last forty years must have seen this one coming: Sheldon Silver, Democrat of Manhattan, Speaker of the Assembly, refused to allow the State Assembly an up-or-down vote on congestion pricing.
The New York Times [1]:
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s far-reaching plan to ease traffic in Manhattan died here on Monday in a closed conference room on the third floor of the Capitol.
Democratic members of the State Assembly held one final meeting to debate the merits of Mr. Bloomberg’s plan and found overwhelming and persistent opposition. The plan would have charged drivers $8 to enter a congestion zone in Manhattan south of 60th Street during peak hours.
Mr. Bloomberg and his supporters, including civic, labor and environmental organizations, viewed the proposal as a bold and essential step to help manage the city’s inexorable growth.
Now, here's where it gets interesting. If the proposal didn't have the necessary votes, it could have been let to the floor and died there. Sheldon Silver didn't allow it to a vote - in the Stalinist system of Albany, only the leaders of the respective chambers, not individual legislators, in practical terms have the ability to bring legislation to a vote - because he did not want it to pass.
And there is no district in all of New York that would have benefited more from congestion pricing than Mr. Silver's own.
In normal years, residents of Silver's 62nd AD really don't have much in the way of leverage over their too-powerful Assemblyman, which is why Silver has completely escaped accountability in his marbled office in Albany. This time, however, things are different: there's a primary challenger, Paul Newell [2].
If the powerless voters in the 62nd Assembly District want to have a representative for their interests in Albany, this year, they have a choice.
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