With the Lexington Avenue subway line down Thursday night, congestion was worse than usual around Hunter College, where the New York City Congestion Mitigation Commission held its first public hearing. The commission, which will present recommendations to alleviate traffic congestion to the New York State Legislature in March, entertained short speeches from a number of elected officials and nonprofit group leaders.

A form of congestion pricing, originally proposed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, is the commission’s main consideration and has proven the most divisive, especially concerning its affects on northern Manhattan. The mayor’s original plan proposed charging drivers $8 to enter or leave Manhattan south of 86th Street and $4 to drive within the pricing zone.

Most elected officials at the hearing voiced support for the concept of Manhattan congestion pricing but disagreed with the specifics of the plan. New York State Senator Liz Krueger, D-East Side voiced opposition to the boundary of 86th Street. “If the goal is to improve local air quality and public health within the city, why are the communities with the highest asthma rates [northern Manhattan] not included in this congestion pricing zone?” she said.

City Council Member Dan Garodnick, D-Upper East Side and East Midtown, stated that the boundary would “drive right up to the border, and circle around, driving by looking for a parking space.” Bloomberg suggested implementing a program of residential parking permits, but Garodnick said that plan “falls too short of detail for me to consider seriously at this time.”

Under the Mayor’s plan the revenue generated with congestion pricing fees would be put toward public transportation improvements, but many attendants expressed concern that the money could misused. “It [the revenue] should be dedicated to improving our public transportation system, and in particular the 2nd Avenue subway,” said City Council Member Jessica Lappin, D-Upper East Side. “Even without congestion pricing, the Lexington Avenue line is operating at well over capacity, and it is impossible and unsafe to add any more riders now.”

The infastructure necessary for congestion pricing would create thousands of jobs for veterans, James Conway, Director of Industry Advancement for the International Union of Operating Engineers, said to loud cheers. “I ask this commission to do your duty and welcome our troops home by trading in a helmet for a hard hat,” he said.

While speakers were overwhelmingly in favor of a congestion pricing scheme, almost all expressed dismay with what they characterized as the meeting’s short notice and disorganization. “If the commission is to be legitimate, it must give the public a real opportunity to be engaged in the process,” said Micah Kellner, D-Upper East Side. Attendants who wanted to speak were turned away if they had not signed up in advance, said Lappin.

“I know how difficult it can be when you try to create compromise,” Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer said. “But I ask you to think about the way we will create a new paradigm for transportation if we create a pilot program that will be looked at, analyzed, and thought of for many years to come.”