Assembly speaker pronounces congestion pricing dead

Sheldon Silver, the Assembly speaker, said that Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s congestion pricing plan is dead, following a secret vote of Assembly Democrats in a private conference room at the State Capitol. Silver said that opposition was so strong that he would not bring the plan to an open vote, though many Republicans supported Bloomberg’s plan. The Legislature needed to approve a congestion pricing plan today for the city to meet a deadline for $354 million in federal transporation grants.