PlaNYC

PlaNYC is a design for the sustainability of New York City, Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s outline for his vision for the city over the next twenty-five years. The plan means to set priorities for the refurbishment of city infrastructure.

Significantly, the plan calls for more city control over large-scale projects with the creation of a new authority comprised of both city and state employees. The plan retains some veto power for the governor.

Daniel L. Doctoroff, the deputy mayor for economic development and rebuilding, led the team of experts that developed the plan, which the New York Times called the Bloomberg administration’s "most far-reaching"—"its fate could determine whether his administration will be remembered as truly transformative." [cite web| url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C04E7DF163EF933A15757C0A9619C8B63| title=The New York Times: Mayor To Unveil 25-Year Outline For Greener City Retrieved on March 28, 2008]

Components

The plan has three major components:

#OpeNYC: Preparation for an explosion in New York City’s population, expected to increase by more than one million over two decades.
#MaintaiNYC: Repairing aging infrastructure, including city bridges, water mains, mass transit, building codes and power plants.
#GreeNYC: Conserving New York City resources, with a goal of reducing New York City’s carbon emissions by 30%.

Congestion pricing

One of the most controversial aspects of the plan is the mayor’s call for congestion pricing, specifically a bid to levy a fee of $8.00 on all cars entering midtown Manhattan during peak hours on weekdays. The proposal has stalled in Albany despite support from environmental groups and the governor’s office.

A large criticism stems from the plan’s assumption that more riders could use mass transit. New York City Transit, after doing an analysis of each subway line, revealed that many subway lines are already used to capacity, and that the tracks allow no room to add more trains. [cite web| url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/26/nyregion/26mta.html| title=The New York Times: Some Subways Found Packed Past Capacity Retrieved on March 28, 2008]

Promoters of this mechanism argue, however, that the system could generate much needed funds for currently underfunded public transit expansion projects (e.g. Second Avenue Subway, #7 Line expansion, East Terminal Extension at Grand Central, etc.).

upport

PlaNYC is supported by Campaign for New York's Future, a coalition of civic, business, environmental, labor, community and public health organizations.

References

External links

* [http://www.nyc.gov/html/planyc2030/html/home/home.shtml nyc.gov's PlaNYC page]
* [http://www.mikebloomberg.com Mayor Michael Bloomberg's homepage]
* [http://adage.com/article.php?article_id=126161 Apple Wants to Take Bite Out of Big Apple] , Claims City's Environmental Logo Infringes on Trademark, Natalie Zmuda, Advertising Age, April 3 2008