ALBANY, N.Y., April 7 (Reuters) - New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s plan to free Manhattan from gridlock by charging rush-hour drivers $8 fees may be doomed as state lawmakers had not scheduled a vote ahead of a Monday’s midnight deadline.

It was just about a year ago that the independent mayor unveiled his plan to raise billions of dollars for new buses and subways with so-called congestion pricing, a strategy already used by London and Singapore.

Bloomberg has several times revived his plan, the centerpiece of 127 Earth Day proposals to make the city greener, from near-certain death. City and state lawmakers at first rejected the new fees and then wrested a series of changes, including pushing the border south to 60th St. from 86th St.

But on Monday, Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who killed Bloomberg’s plan for an Olympic stadium on Manhattan’s West Side, had made no announcement ahead of the deadline, which if missed will cost the city $354 million in federal mass transit aid.

Kevin Sheekey, a mayoral aide, warned lawmakers that they risked angering voters, businesses, environmental advocates and working people if they charging weekday drivers the fees during rush hour for entering Manhattan.

“I don’t think they should worry about the mayor, I think they should worry about the other people,” Sheekey said on an Albany radio show.

But he also explained why Bloomberg’s leadership might have failed. “This was a plan that was advocated by the business community, the environmental community ... In many ways, the mayor came late to the game, put his office behind it.”

Republican Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno said he was willing have his house vote first, before the Democratic-led Assembly. But Bruno added that he needed support from some Democrats in his house to enact the legislation.

Bruno said lawmakers could fix any problems after the plan was approved, noting that lawmakers wanted to be sure that trucks making deliveries would be exempt if, for example, they entered or left before 7:00 a.m. or 7:00 p.m.

Spokesmen for the speaker and Gov. David Patterson had no comment.

Even if New York’s legislature -- which has also missed its March 31 deadline for approving a new $124 billion budget -- approves Bloomberg’s plan, New Jersey is likely to try to kill it.

Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine has vowed to sue to protect New Jersey drivers, spurning Bloomberg’s proposal to have the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey contribute an extra $1 billion for transportation.

New Jersey Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez has appealed to the Federal Highway Administration. (Reporting by Elizabeth Flood Morrow in Albany and Joan Gralla in New York, Editing by Dan Grebler) (joan.gralla@reuters.com;+1 646-223-6345; Reuters Messaging; joan.gralla.reuters.com@reuters.net))