The heavyweights on both sides of the congestion pricing debate came out en masse on Tuesday night to try to sway a 17-member traffic mitigation commission during a public hearing at York College. The almost two dozen speakers who addressed the panel included Borough President Helen Marshall, several city and state legislators, a slew of environmentalists who support congestion pricing and others who oppose the plan. Assemblyman Rory Lancman (D-Fresh Meadows), Councilman David Weprin (D-Hollis) and Walter McCaffrey, a public policy advisor for Keep NYC Congestion Tax Free, spoke out most adamantly against the plan in their five-minute testimonies. Lancman called the plan, which would result in drivers paying fees to enter Manhattan's Central Business District between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., a "$2,000-a-year tax on working people in the outer boroughs." He outlined alternatives to congestion pricing, including investing $500 million in mass transportation projects and providing incentives for telecommutes and car pools. Weprin proposed implementing a "flex commute" that would adjust the tolls charged on bridges and tunnels at different times of the day. State Sen. John Sabini (D-Jackson Heights) and Marshall both applauded Bloomberg for addressing congestion in the city. But, in more measured tones than those used by others, they expressed some concerns about the details of his plan. In urging the panel to consider all of the consequences of congestion pricing's implementation, both spoke of the dependency of Queens residents on the hospital and medical facilities in Manhattan and Queens' already overcrowded buses and subways. Supporters of the congestion pricing plan included representatives from the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, the Regional Plan Association, the New York League of Conservation Voters, Transportation Alternatives and the Sierra Club NYC Group. Veronica Vanterpool, from the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, argued that 95 percent of Queens residents would not be adversely effected by the fee because they either don't commute into Manhattan or because they use mass transit when entering the central business district. She further argued that they would be helped by the mass transportation projects that would come to the borough if congestion pricing were implemented. "It does not make sense for us to forfeit $354 million because there are people who enjoy the privilege of driving," Vanterpool said, referencing the sum the city stands to gain in federal Department of Transportation grants. This money would be put toward the implementation of congestion pricing, expanding service on the E and F subway lines and creating four new bus routes in Queens, among other projects. "The sad fact is that our buses and subways are underfunded and not in a good state of repair. Western Queens and Southeast Queens, where we are now, have a huge asthma problem," said Dan Hendrick, the New York League of Conservation Voters' communications director. "We cannot bury our collective head in the sand." The commission will have held public hearings in all five boroughs as well as in Nassau and Westchester Counties by Nov. 5. Members of the commission include Janette Sadik-Khan, commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation; Assemblywoman Vivian Cook (D-Jamaica); and Elliot Sander, executive director of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. By Jan. 31, 2008, the commission must complete a congestion mitigation implementation plan.