Bloomberg Says Congestion Pricing Would Have Passed Assembly

After he delivered a speech this morning in Washington, a reporter asked Michael Bloomberg if he agreed with top political aide Kevin Sheekey that Sheldon Silver lacked "courage" on congestion pricing.

‘Well, I didn’t hear what Kevin said last night,” Bloomberg said, according to audio provided by his office. “I suggest you talk to Kevin.”

He then added, “I do not think that any one person should decide what is right,” leaving little room for doubt on where the mayor stands.

Congestion pricing, said Bloomberg, “was supported two-to-one in every poll, and I think would have passed in the legislature if they had done a vote.

"There were 40-odd Republicans," he went on. "Their leader said he could deliver those votes. And I think there has never been in the last 20 or 30 years a bill that got to the Assembly floor that wasn’t approved. So it’s not really realistic to say if it would have come to a vote it was questionable, the results. The results would have been there. It would have been passed.”

But, he added, “that‘s not what we‘re here to talk about.”

Pressed later on whether there would be any retribution against those who opposed the plan, Bloomberg, sounding annoyed, said, “I’m not here to talk about politics.”