This morning’s tiff over deadlines between Senate Majority Malcolm Smith and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver—Smith called a March 25 deadline for action on the M.T.A. “artificial”—recalls a dispute from almost two years ago, except roles were switched around a bit.
Back in July 2007, those who followed the congestion pricing debate closely will recall, Mayor Bloomberg was leading the fight to charge cars for entering much of Manhattan, with the money going to fund the M.T.A. The legislature needed to act by July 16, he argued, or it would sacrifice up to $500 million in federal money.
He was rebuffed, however, by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.
