ALBANY - New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's last-minute lobbying for his ambitious toll plan to clear Manhattan traffic congestion ended without the necessary legislative approval Monday, but may have kept the proposal alive.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver didn't return his chamber to Albany to vote on the plan, as the proposal's supporters said was necessary. But Silver said from Manhattan that he would sign a letter with Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and Gov. Eliot Spitzer that says the state will create a commission to consider the Democrats' concerns over the “congestion pricing” toll plan. Silver said that should be enough to keep New York City in the running to be chosen for a federal pilot program and to receive as much as $500 million in federal funds.

The Assembly's Democratic majority “came to a conclusion that they would support legislation that would establish a commission that would examine all of these issues,” Silver said.

The Assembly Democrats' are concerned about how much of Manhattan would be subject to entry tolls, the amount of the tolls, creating exemptions, how parking permits will be issued outside the zone for mass transit commuters, and other major aspects of Bloomberg's proposal.

Bruno and Bloomberg had no immediate comment on whether the proposal was still alive.

Senate Democrats also indicated they would withhold their critical support for the measure to be approved in the Republican-led Senate, assuming that Monday was the deadline.

But Silver always questioned that deadline, saying a clear agreement short of legislation would likely be good enough for the federal government.

“We're not going to get rolled, but we'll listen,” said veteran Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, a Westchester Democrat who has raised concerns about Bloomberg's plan.

The mayor believes his measure would reduce Manhattan's traffic gridlock while cleaning the air for kids and reducing greenhouse gases blamed for global warming. Bloomberg's plan includes an $8 toll for cars and a $21 toll for trucks to enter Manhattan's most heavily traveled business district during workdays, with the money going toward transportation improvements.

“It's regressive, it's unfair to the outer boroughs, it does not necessarily do much for the air,” Brodsky said before the Democratic Assembly conference met privately in Manhattan. Brodsky said the billionaire mayor has resorted to “threats and bullying” to get his way.

Still, negotiations continued between the Assembly, Senate and Spitzer. Talks could continue into this week despite claims by supporters that Monday is a drop-dead deadline. In Albany Monday, Bloomberg tried to build a coalition of Republican and Democratic lawmakers.

“We just can't have a 24-hour rush hour and we're heading toward that,” Bloomberg said. “We're going to get ourselves into a position pretty quickly where we will either have to raise the fares or cut service.” That, he said, would encourage more automobiles to enter the city and that would be “really disastrous.”

But Silver, known for holding out on major measures to secure agreements on unrelated objectives, may have succeeded in getting more time to alter the proposal or link it with others.

“Things have a way, in this place, of sort of one thing being dependent on another,” Bruno said at the Capitol. “Some people call it linking, some people call it packaging, some people call it inappropriate. Some people call it dysfunctional, but the system is what it is and so we're going to function within the system hopefully getting some positive results for the people of the state.”

Bruno can't count on the votes of his fellow Republican senators representing Long Island and the northern suburbs, so the measure would need support from some Senate Democrats. Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith of Queens said that he wanted changes in substantial elements of the proposal, including where parking lots will be built and how the pricing will be enforced.

But Smith also told reporters his conference is seeking more bills unrelated to congestion pricing.

“Congestion pricing is not the only thing the people of this state are talking about,” Smith said.

Smith said that while many of his members were opposed to the plan, he would support it as long as the Assembly agrees to make it final. He said he would try to avoid a Senate vote on the bill if the Assembly wouldn't also support it.

The city is among nine municipal finalists for five U.S. Department of Transportation pilot programs to combat urban traffic congestion and pollution, part of a $1.2 billion outlay for new programs to ease U.S. gridlock.

In May, a climatic study found that cities covering less than 1 percent of the Earth's surface generate 80 percent of its heat-trapping greenhouse gases.

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AP Writer Sara Kugler contributed to this report from New York City.

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