[Neatened up and updated, again, since DeLong removed my first and second and now fourth[!] comment. He left up the third which was the rudest but there's no context. My first comment didn't include either the numbers or the anger. It was curt, that's all. And that's all the post deserved. DeLong is behaving like a child.]

New York is not an "economically rational animal." It's not even an animal. Its run by way of conflicts among competing self-interested parties concerned mostly with their own short term gain. In another context DeLong would approve.

Bloomberg wants to be remembered as a good king. Whether the dream itself is rational or whether we should approve are questions that rmain unasked. Noblesse oblige has its limits: under Bloomberg's proposal private cars are charged $8 and commercial vehicles $21. In the context of NYC, that's a regressive tax.
DeLong is mixing the language of markets and Louis XIV. He's torn between idealism and realism, but won't admit it. Nobility or democracy? He can't reconcile and he's not willing to face the complexities of trying.
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My last comment, also deleted, was a response to this question by another commenter:

"Is traffic congestion in Manhattan really an issue the federal government should be concerned about and spending federal tax money to mitigate?"
Yes: in NY and every other major city in the country.

Lets see how long this one stays up

It lasted half an hour.