A majority of New Yorkers oppose Gov. Kathy Hochul’s looming congestion toll on Manhattan commuters, according to a scathing new poll.
Some 51% of New Yorkers oppose Hochul’s controversial scheme that she had put on pause earlier this year — only to revive it days after the November elections, the Siena College poll showed.
Hochul announced the program would go into effect on Jan. 5 with a minimum $9 daily toll to enter Manhattan below 60th Street, with the plan to hike the new fee to $15 in the coming years.
Only 29% of those polled said they were supportive of the congestion tax with another 20% saying they were unsure or were in the middle.
“The Siena Poll confirmed what New Yorkers already know: We hate this tax,” said Susan Lee, president of the group New Yorkers Against Congestion Pricing Tax.
“We didn’t ask for it, we fought to stop it, and now, after paying us lip service to get through the elections, the Governor is shoving it down our throats,” Lee said in a statement. “But New Yorkers will not capitulate; we will continue to fight this unfair and inequitable new tax until it’s six-feet underground.”
The poorest New Yorkers were most likely say they opposed the toll, with 54% of those making under $50,000 against the plan, and 22% the middle or unsure, according to the poll.
“There is essentially no group of New Yorkers that support the Governor’s reinstituted $9 congestion pricing plan for Manhattan,” Siena Poll spokesperson Steve Greenberg said in a statement.
“Democrats come close to break even, with opponents edging out supporters 42-40%. It’s opposed by City voters nearly two-to-one and downstate suburbanites better than two-to-one. There is very little racial or gender divide on congestion pricing,” Greenberg continued.
The numbers aren’t surprising. Siena asked a similar question about the toll after Hochul abruptly paused it in June.
In the June poll, 45% of respondents said they supported Hochul’s pause compared with 23% who opposed it.
Even the diner owners and patrons who Hochul cited in her defense of the pause recently told The Post they were upset that she reversed course.
But there are some who are continuing to back the plan.
“We elect our leaders to lead,” said Danny Pearlstein, policy and communications director for the Riders Alliance. “Sometimes that means making superficially unpopular decisions.
“Once congestion pricing starts, it will quickly become clear that only 1% of New Yorkers pay the toll each day,” he told The Post Tuesday.
“Soon enough, it will be an uncontroversial but essential policy for New York’s future, delivering better transit, freer flowing traffic and cleaner air for all.”
