Vote at 3:30

The City Council is voting at 3:30 today on congestion pricing. After this vote, if CP is passed, it goes to the state legislature, where supporters await. Over the weekend:

Gov. David A. Paterson, who supports the plan, amended legislation to give breaks to low-income drivers and to allow commuters who cross the Hudson River from New Jersey to pay only tolls — not an additional congestion charge — if the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey agrees to make a substantial contribution to the M.T.A. capital budget.

There is already some resistance to the “free pass” being given commuters from New Jersey via its bailout by the PA.

And Streetsblog has a great post today on how CP affects Queens. Required reading if you’re following this story. Photo below (from Streesblog) from Friday’s anti-CP rally staged at the bottom of the Feeling Groovy Bridge, Queens side—

According to our sources, of the council members slated to attend–Avella, Leroy Comrie, Melinda Katz, David Weprin “and other possible members of the Queens Delegation”–only Avella and Weprin showed up. Pro-pricing folks who came to either counter-protest or just express support for pricing, including those from Queens, were reportedly yelled at and accused of being “undemocratic” by Avella. Environmental Defense was on hand to measure air quality and found that “contaminants were sky high.”

Queens residents crash Friday’s anti-pricing rally