I thought Al Gore was insane back in two-thousand, and initially, I thought Bloomberg was off his rocker as well in recent weeks. I'm referring to the whole premium charge to drive around mid-town/downtown New York City, and now I just pray that they're reasonable enough not to charge for those passing by along the West Side Highway or FDR drive. EZ Pass works well with this, in leaving the highways to the side streets, and for visitors to the city without the EZ Pass, there is a terminal there that immediately after passing through, they can swipe a credit card or feed in cash, and type in their license plate number, and if they don't, ticket in the mail. Keep the receipt just in case (if you pay cash) in case of any mistakes.
Now the reason why, it's not for dumb environmental reasons, as Al Gore was about, or making money, as Bloomberg is all about. The real reason is why many people will fight tooth and nail against this new law being passed, and to know who I'm talking about... look where the money is. If you follow who has the most to lose, you'll see the answer right away, but not necessarily my reasoning. You see, the people who have the most to lose out are the Parking Lot owners. While a residential program might work out with the congestion pricing, that's not really my concern, most people that own cars have monthly lots and what not, so not all the parking places will disappear, but those conveniently placed empty lots, or ones that have the lifts will be the first to go, the buildings and underground places will be next, though some will remain.
Now that we've established who's going out, the question is who will be moving in. Well, the actual owners of the property, not necessarily those that are leasing it, will probably put up small places, as these lots tend to be in between existing buildings in spaces too small to put up a high rise. Probably three to five story places, the ground floor being a store, the upper floors small (and expensive, giving the location) apartments. What's so great about this? Well, of course it's roulette between big chain stores or small specialty place, but the point is, there will be more possibility of those small specialty stores, and ones that already exist but are having trouble making the rent no longer will fear that they'll lose their lease because the owner decided the place is worth more as parking lot.
That's my agenda, lose the fear of being replaced by pavement, it will cause the pressure to go down a bit on real estate, I'm not saying it will allow me to be able to afford a place in mid town, just that businesses I'm more likely to frequent will be better able to pop up/stay in business. Heh, follow the money, follow the personal interest, it's all the same.

Now, I will fully support a housing project in mid town for people who are me or my friends