Assembly Member Richard Brodsky (D-Westchester) may have been on the congestion pricing commission, but he certainly does not agree with its recommendations. In a 13-2 vote earlier this month, the commission approved a modified version of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s (Unaff.) congestion pricing plan, which would charge motorists $8 to drive below 60th Street in Manhattan.

Bloomberg is the latest politician to run up against Brodsky, who in his 25 years in Albany, has established himself as one of the Legislature’s most notable no-nonsense politicians, with a reputation for being a man unafraid to criticize anyone. He has made several tries for other positions—Westchester county executive, attorney general and state comptroller, in the wake of Alan Hevesi’s resignation. Now he is rumored to be a possible successor to Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan), and though he quickly shot down that speculation, he took some time to discuss what he sees as the future of the congestion pricing plan, public authority reform and Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s improving relationship with the Legislature.

What follows is an edited tran scri pt.



The Capitol: What do you think about the congestion pricing report that was just released?
Richard Brodsky: I think it’s a disaster.

TC: Do you think this is being touted as a substitution for a commuter tax?
RB: I haven’t heard that. I don’t know why anyone would say that, because commuters don’t pay this fee. This is only paid by people from the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens.  Not only, but largely.

TC: So why doesn’t this make sense to you?
RB: It’s a regressive tax on a large band of people, mostly middle income and low income people in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens. People from Jersey don’t pay. The money is not guaranteed to go to mass transit. They gut the environmental laws.  

TC: Bloomberg’s plan originally called for the creation of a new authority, but that has been shelved. When it comes to the existing authorities, do you see room for reform?
RB: Yes. we have a bill that passed in the Assembly last year that would do that. It does a lot of things. It would change the law governing them, and that’s in the bill.

TC: Couldn’t some argue that there’s a knowledge gap of sorts when it comes to the understanding of public authorities?
RB: Well, I don’t know about nobody, but we have looked at them very carefully and we have a proposal that I think would work and that’s what’s in the bill.

TC: How do you feel the governor has changed his approach with regards to the Legislature?
RB: I think the governor is trying to find a better way to communicate with both the public and with representatives in the Legislature, and I think it’s all for the good. There have been, I think, unnecessary bumps in the relationship and I think everyone ought to try and fix that. I think he’s listening better and it’s all for the good.

TC: In the past you’ve made three attempts to get out of the Legislature. Do you mind the idea of being an Assembly lifer?
RB: I don’t know what a lifer is.

TC: A legislator for life?
RB: I don’t know what a legislator for life is. There are elections every two years.

TC: Are there other positions you might be interested in running for?
RB: Every two years I make a decision about whether I run for re-election. That, I think, is the appropriate time and based on what the people think, then I make those decisions. I don’t sit around and worry about those decisions.

TC: Do you think you could beat Assembly Member Dick Gottfried’s (D-Manhattan) record?
RB: Got any other questions?

TC: If Shelly Silver were to step down at some point or retire, are you interested in running for speaker?
RB: Those are the questions you ask at that point. Generally speaking, it isn’t in anyone’s interest to have folks busy figuring out what their next job is, in any business.

TC: You think it’s a distraction?
RB: I think for anybody, do the job you’re in and do it well, and the rest of it comes when it comes. The speaker does a very good job. No one that I know is engaged in the kind of discussions that you’re talking about and I’m doing the stuff I have to do.

TC: Metropolitan Transportation Authority President Lee Sanders announced that he would give a “State of the MTA” speech in March. Are you planning to attend?
RB: I haven’t been invited.

TC: What do you think can be done with the MTA?
RB: I think you should go back and look at the thorough and thought-out way we approached authority reform. I think the MTA is a poster child for those kinds of reforms. These have been Soviet style bureaucracies that are out of control. There’s no accountability. And the trick is to make them accountable.

TC: Do you think that has the support to get through the Legislature?
RB: Yes. We’ve already passed it in the Assembly and the Senate passed a similar bill and we’re going to try to get it done in both houses this year.

TC: Do you think the governor will sign the bill into law?
RB: Well, the governor would be supporting the bill the Assembly has passed.

TC: But not the Senate version?
RB: Right.

TC: So there are still kinks to be worked out?
RB: Well, there are issues to be resolved.