New York voters are nearly twice as likely to support Gov. Kathy Hochul’s decision to pause congestion pricing as to oppose it, but tend to disapprove of her leadership more generally, according to a new statewide poll from Siena College.
The poll found that 45% of registered voters said they approved of the governor’s move to pause the toll, which was scheduled to go into effect on June 30 and would charge most motorists $15 to enter lower Manhattan, with proceeds funding mass transit improvements. That’s nearly twice the 23% of respondents who said they opposed the move, while 33% said they were somewhere in the middle or had no opinion.
About 63% of respondents had told Siena they opposed the toll when the question was last asked in April, with 25% supporting it at the time.
Support for the pause appeared similar between Democrats, Republicans, and independents. In New York City, 45% of respondents said they supported the pause, while 30% opposed it; suburban voters backed the pause even more overwhelmingly, with a majority of those polled (56%) in favor and just 18% against.
Rumors have abounded that Hochul decided to pursue the pause in a gambit to retake House seats in suburban districts where the toll is unpopular, though the governor has denied this and claimed she did it out of concern for the economy and hitting New Yorkers’ pocketbooks.
On that front, though, New Yorkers tend to be less supportive of congestion pricing the richer they get, according to the poll.
Just 32% of New Yorkers making less than $50,000 per year support the pause, while 43% of those making between $50,000 and $100,000 support it. At higher incomes above $100,000 annually, 55% of New Yorkers support the pause.
Older New Yorkers are also more likely to support the pause than younger ones, while white New Yorkers have higher favorable numbers for the pause than Latinos and African-Americans.
Despite apparently favoring the pause she implemented, voters are not so keen on Hochul herself.
Just 44% of registered voters said they approve of Hochul’s job performance, compared to 50% who disapprove.
Voters are more likely than not to think Hochul works hard for the people of New York, effectively collaborates with other government leaders, and demonstrates honesty and integrity.
But they also think she “does not care” about people like themselves and doesn’t provide New Yorkers with “decisive leadership.”
“Despite strongly supporting Hochul’s decision to put congestion pricing on hold, and even more strongly supporting the social media bill she championed, voters now give Hochul the lowest favorability and job approval ratings she’s had in nearly three years as Governor,” said Siena pollster Steven Greenberg.
The Siena poll surveyed 805 registered voters statewide; it has a margin of error of +/- 4.1%.
