State Kills Manhattan Toll Plan

New York state senators put the brakes on a scheme to charge drivers $8 to enter the busiest parts of Manhattan in peak hours, the New York Times reports. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg not only failed to convince lawmakers, he appeared to alienate them in testy meetings in Albany.

"If the mayor came in with one vote, he left with none," said one Brooklyn Democrat. "His posture was not ingratiating." The plan, known as congestion pricing, is based on a similar scheme in central London in operation since 2003 to reduce traffic in the busiest areas of a city. It has never been attempted in an American city. (More Michael Bloomberg stories.)