New York to copy London

New York is to copy London and introduce the Congestion Charge, as Ken Livingstone proudly tells us all in today's Guardian.

According to the Guardian:

New York's plans were introduced by Arnold Schwarzenegger, the governor of California, who presented himself as an "environmental warrior"

Mr Schwarzenegger is to address the Tory conference in September. Hopefully this "environmental warrier" will lecture the Tories on how silly they were to oppose Red Ken's congestion charge.

Ever since the Labour government came to power, and Ken Livingstone became mayor, London has been steadily gaining on New York, and is now widely believed to have left New York for dust, not just in terms of property prices, city deals, initial public offerings, the amount of foreign exchange traded, and investment banker pay, but even in areas where New York took her status for granted, like the world art market. Earlier this year, a panicky New York sent a delegation to London to study why London had shot ahead. New Yorkers themselves have been chattering about this for awhile.

Last November, streetsblog, a blog dedicated to improving New York, noted that Ken Livingstone's goal was to make London a leading example of how to combat climate change, and that this was contributing to London's overall status - and lo and behold, Mr Schwarzenegger declared that by introducing the congestion charge "New York leaps to the forefront of cities dedicated to attacking climate change and protecting our environment".

Expect New Yorkers to start copying everything London does, in a bid to keep up. Imitation really is the sincerest form of flattery.