News Desk  

PRESS RELEASE 

March 27, 2008
Larry Parker, Public Relations/Communications Coordinator
212-961-1000 x314 (office)
732-887-3505 (cell)
larry@weact.org

WE ACT IDENTIFIES KEY ISSUES ON CONGESTION PRICING
Report with The Earth Institute Answers Northern Manhattan Concerns; Legislators Speak On Plan

ALBANY -- WE ACT for Environmental Justice, Harlem’s leading advocate for environmental justice for two decades, held an event at the State Capitol today with Senator Bill Perkins and other Northern Manhattan legislators to lay out key conclusions from a study WE ACT commissioned, to determine how to mitigate impacts on Northern Manhattan which might be caused by the proposed congestion pricing plan below 60th Street in Manhattan.

With support from the Ford Foundation and New York Community Trust, the joint study by WE ACT and The Earth Institute of Columbia University -- addressed by WE ACT Deputy Director Cecil Corbin-Mark and Sustainability Policy Coordinator Stephanie Tyree during the event -- was designed to answer concerns about the congestion pricing plan expressed by residents, elected officials and members of Northern Manhattan, including the neighborhoods of East, Central and West Harlem, Washington Heights and Inwood.

“This is clearly a step in the right direction toward addressing the concerns of the residents of Northern Manhattan,” said Sen. Perkins.

The key findings of the study noted:

· Most workers who commute would find it too inconvenient to park-and-ride from Northern Manhattan to their jobs, as most current off-street lots are operating at more than 90% capacity;

· Subways in Northern Manhattan are already overcrowded or nearly so, but new lines and cars cannot be added without full funding of the MTA’s capital plan; and

· Improved bus service MUST be implemented citywide prior to congestion pricing.

For these reasons, Corbin-Mark and Tyree urged the Legislature to pass the congestion pricing plan, in order to make New York eligible for an immediate $350 million federal grant and to generate almost $500 million annually for mass transit improvements.

Due to previously expressed community concerns, particularly about expansions of bus service, the study suggested the following preventive measures be added to the plan:

· Using zoning powers to restrict new off-street parking lots and the expansion of existing off-street lots near transit stations in Northern Manhattan;

· Endorsing the MTA’s plan for bus rapid transit (BRT) service on 125th Street and including 125th Street in the city’s Congested Corridors program;

· To keep Harlem and Washington Heights from being overwhelmed by bus depots, any new MTA bus depots around the city needed for the additional bus service congestion pricing will require should be equitably allocated;

· Dedicating virtually all of the funds raised by congestion pricing to new bus and subway service through a “lockbox” system; and finding further dedicated funds to fully fund the MTA’s capital plan;

· Addressing subway capital needs not only on the East Side with the Second Avenue Subway, but also on the West Side by expanding capacity on the 1, 2, and 3 lines.

WE ACT also endorsed the congestion pricing plan’s proposals to allow Northern Manhattan neighborhoods to establish Residential Parking Permit (RPP) programs for street parking; to expand Metro-North park-and-ride lots; and to carefully monitor neighborhood conditions before the start of and during any plan, as has been done in London and Stockholm, where congestion pricing originated.

Corbin-Mark applauded Governor Paterson for endorsing the plan. “I believe the Governor, a son of Harlem, recognizes the benefits of the modified congestion pricing plan for all New York City residents, but especially for the residents of Harlem and Washington Heights,” he said.