NEW YORK CITY TRAFFIC CONGESTION MITIGATION COMMISSION PUBLIC HEARING ON TRAFFIC CONGESTION AND MITIGATION IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK York College Performing Arts Center 94-20 Guy R Brewer Boulevard Jamaica, New York Tuesday, October 30, 2007 6:00 p.m. EN-DE REPORTING SERVICES 212-962-2961 2 APPEARANCES: MARC V. SHAW, Chairman Executive Vice President for Strategic Planning At Extell Development Company RICHARD BIVONE President of Nassau Council of Chambers of Commerce President of RMB Drafting Services RICHARD L. BRODSKY, Assemblyman VIVIAN COOK, Assemblywoman ANDY DARRELL Director of New York Region and Living Cities Program at Environmental Defense THOMAS EAGAN Chairman of State University of New York HERMAN D. FARRELL, JR., Assemblyman EDWIN C. REED CEO Greater Allen AME Cathedral of New York GERALD ROMSKI, Counsel and Project Executive Arverne by the Sea GENE RUSSIANOFF, Staff Attorney NYPIRG JANETTE SADIK-KHAN New York City DOT Commissioner ELLIOT SANDER CEO of Metropolitan Transportation Authority ANDRE BATISTA SCHLESINGER, Executive Director Drum Major Institute for Public Policy ANTHONY SHORRIS Executive Director of the Port Authority New York and New Jersey KATHRYN S. WYLDE President and CEO of the Partnership for New York City EN-DE REPORTING SERVICES 212-962-2961 3 LIST OF SPEAKERS HONORABLE JOHN D. SABINI NYS Senator, 13th District . 7 LEROY COMRIE NYC Council Member . 13 RORY LANDSMAN NYS Assemblymember, 25th District .......... 22 VERONICA VANTERPOOL Tri-State Transportation Campaign . 19 WALTER MCCAFFREY Advisor/Strategist and Public Policy Advisor Keen NYC Congestion Tax Free . 27 HONORABLE HELEN MARSHALL Queens Borough President .............. 33 HONORABLE DAVID I. WEPRIN NYC Council Member . 38 HONRABLE CATHERINE T. NOLAN NYS Assemblymember, 37th District. 46 JEFF ZUPAN Senior Fellow Transportation Regional Plan Association. 50 DANIEL HENDRICK NY League of Conservation Voters . 57 JAMES A. TRENT Queens Civil Congress Transportation Chair . 59 ROLAND LEWIS President & CEO, Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance. 63 JOSEPH HARTIGAN . 65 KARLA QUANTERO Deputy Director of Planning Transportation Alternatives. 71 EN-DE REPORTING SERVICES 212-962-2961 4 LIST OF SPEAKERS DAN MINER Energy Committee Chair Sierra Club NYC Group . 79 PHIL KONIGSBERG Community Board 7, Queens. 82 VEDA JAMOONA Executive Director & Founder United Hindu Cultural Council Senior Center. 87 HARBACHAN SINGH President, Sikh-American Friendship Foundation . 89 KEVIN FORRESTAL Hillcrest Estate Civic Association . 91 YA-TING LUI American Lung Association. ........... 95 MIKE HEFFRON Chairperson Transportation Alternatives of Western Queens. 100 MARCSCOTT...................... 101 NOAH BUTNICK. .. .. .. .. 104 NICOLE GOLUBOSS................... 106 GENE KIELTY . ...............112 ANGUS SMITH . ...............118 EN-DE REPORTING SERVICES 212-962-2961 1 C NYC Traffic Congestion Mitigation Commission – 10-30-07 5 2 CHAIRMAN SHAW : Good evening. My name 3 is Marc Shaw. I’m the Chairman of the 4 Commission. I’d like everybody to introduce 5 themselves, starting on the left, your right. 6 MR. DARRELL: I’m Andy Darrell with 7 Environmental Defense. 8 MR. BIVONE: Richard Bivone, Nassau 9 Council, Chambers of Commerce. 10 ASSEMBLYWOMANCOOK: Vivian Cook, New 11 York State Assembly. 12 ASSEMBLYMAN FARRELL: Danny Farrell, New 13 York State Assembly. 14 ASSEMBLYMAN BRODSKY: Assemblyman Richard 15 Brodsky. 16 CHAIRMANSHAW: Thank you, everybody, 17 for coming. We’ll try to make this as quick and 18 painless as possi ble. 19 First I’d like to thank York College for 20 giving us the space here. We totally appreciate 21 it. CUNY has been helpful in all the boroughs 22 finding space, and we thank them for allowing us 23 to hold this here. 24 This Commission was created in July by 25 the State Legislature to recommend the New York EN-DE REPORTING SERVICES 212-962-2961 1 C NYC Traffic Congestion Mitigation Commission – 10-30-07 6 2 City Traffic Congestion Mitigation Plan. As you 3 know, the Mayor has proposed, and submitted to 4 this Commission, a congestion pricing proposal 5 that includes a pricing zone in Manhattan that 6 would charge moto rists $8 for entering the zone 7 and $4 for driving within the zone. The Mayor’s 8 proposal would deduct all tolls already paid. 9 The MTA and the State Department of 10 Transportation have also submitted plans for 11 additional transit improvements that would 12 compl iment the Mayor’s plan and handle the 13 increased demand of commuters. However, this 14 Commission is required by law to not only review 15 the Mayor’s plan, but to research and analyze 16 modifications to that plan, as well as any new 17 congestion mitigation alternat ives. 18 The Commission is required to formulate 19 its own recommendations for reducing traffic 20 congestion in the Manhattan Business District by 21 6.2 percent by January 31 of next year. We must 22 recommend a proposed solution that would 23 inevitably include the wa y to fund additional 24 mass transit improvements. 25 In order to guide the Commission’s work, EN-DE REPORTING SERVICES 212-962-2961 1 C NYC Traffic Congestion Mitigation Commission – 10-30-07 7 2 we set up seven public hearings throughout the 3 region. The goal of these hearings is to seek 4 public comment on the Mayor’s plan and to hear 5 any other potential solut ions for reducing 6 traffic congestion. It is important in our 7 deliberations that we take into consideration 8 many different concerns, as any recommendation we 9 make will have a direct impact on the community. 10 The hearing today provide you, the 11 public, with an opportunity to present your 12 comments which will be reviewed by the entire 13 Commission. Additionally, you’re going to submit 14 your testimony after tonight’s hearing on our 15 website which can be found on the State 16 Department of Transportation’s website at 17 www.nysdot.gov . 18 I think our first speaker is John 19 Sabbini. 20 HON. SABBINI: Good evening. Breaking 21 all the rules tonight, I don’t have copies of my 22 testimony because I wanted to be more of a free 23 form and hopefully a dialogue, although I hear 24 that questions have not been forthcoming at prior 25 hearings. EN-DE REPORTING SERVICES 212-962-2961 1 C NYC Traffic Congestion Mitigation Commission – 10-30-07 8 2 I’m John Sabbini. I’m the Ranking 3 Minority Member of the New York State Senate 4 Committee on Transportation and a resident of 5 Queens. I was the only New Yorker to atte nd 6 Transportation Secretary Murray Peter’s 7 presentation on the federal aide that has been 8 now manifested in the Mayor’s congested pricing 9 plan. And I attended a White House conference on 10 transportation earlier this year. In fact, that 11 group will be meeti ng again on Thursday, a 12 meeting that will have more information on 13 federal aide and programs regarding pricing to 14 ease congestion. 15 Nationally this has become a huge issue, 16 people taking more time to get to work and taking 17 time out of their personal lives, has become an 18 alarming national issue. The Washington Post has 19 a congestion beat reporter, someone who actually 20 used to work here in New York whose job it is to 21 talk about how wasting time going back and forth 22 to work affects people’s lives, their families, 23 their dating habits, their childcare habits, 24 their eating habits. So it’s a real issue. 25 My concern, and one of the reasons I’m EN-DE REPORTING SERVICES 212-962-2961 1 C NYC Traffic Congestion Mitigation Commission – 10-30-07 9 2 here tonight, is in the Mayor’s formulation of 3 his plan, which I think is spectacular in many 4 aspects, some of the details give me pause. 5 The essential message from Secretary 6 Peters was that they wanted options on pricing. 7 The Mayor’s repeatedly said he doesn’t want 8 people moving from place to place to choose 9 cheaper options. That really is against what the 10 federal governme nt has said in the voluminous 11 information they’ve given those of us in the 12 Legislature who work on transportation issues. 13 In fact, in California there are toll roads now 14 that price by the lane. The most expensive lane, 15 the Lexus lane. They have another lane that’s a 16 lower toll, and another lane that’s free on the 17 same highway. Pricing, giving people choices, is 18 what the federal government saw as the best 19 option to relieve congestion. And I know Mr. 20 Romski, who is our Senate Minority representative 21 on t his, and I know Assemblyman Brodsky and 22 others have understood the grounds for my 23 essential opposition to the current plan or the 24 current proposal, and that opposition stems from 25 the fact that I believe that the current proposal EN-DE REPORTING SERVICES 212-962-2961 1 C NYC Traffic Congestion Mitigation Commission – 10-30-07 10 2 discriminates against the n ear - in outer boroughs. 3 That’s a new concept, near- in outer borough. 4 The near - in outer boroughs would be South 5 Bronx, areas of western Queens like Long Island 6 City, Astoria, Sunnyside, Woodside, Jackson 7 Heights, Corona. In Brooklyn, Williamsburg , 8 Brookly n Heights, Carroll Gardens, Fort Green, 9 areas like that. Why do I say that 10 discriminates? 11 The traditional way of getting into 12 Manhattan for the central business district from 13 the suburbs is limited access highways – the Long 14 Island Expressway, the New En gland Thruway, which 15 turns into the Bruckner Expressway, the Grand 16 Central Parkway.