Whoopi Goldberg rips NY’s $15 congestion pricing toll to Kathy Hochul’s face on ‘The View’: ‘This is a huge deal’
“Lifelong New Yorker” Whoopi Goldberg gave Gov. Kathy Hochul an on-air earful Wednesday over the Empire State’s controversial congestion pricing toll plan.
The 68-year-old joined a chorus of toll opponents as she ripped the contentious plan to charge drivers $15 to enter Midtown Manhattan during the governor’s appearance on ABC’s “The View.”
“This is a huge deal because I can afford it, don’t get me wrong, I can afford it, but a lot of my friends who drive in every day, who left here because they couldn’t afford to live here anymore, can’t,” Goldberg randomly said at the tail-end of the governor’s segment.
The talk show host’s rant came as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority continues to hold a slew of hearings to supposedly listen to the public’s concerns about the back-breaking new toll targeting drivers traveling south of 60th Street in Manhattan.
But Goldberg — who described herself as a “lifelong New Yorker” — railed against the Empire State’s push to implement the congestion pricing plan without having a “conversation” first with Big Apple residents.
“This whole thing, this congestion pricing, I don’t understand,” Goldberg told Hochul. “Because the mayor, because New Yorkers did not mess up the streets.”
“We used to have four-lane avenues, we had ways to get around. You could get, it might have taken a long time because we have big trucks, but you could get around,” she continued, adding that now there are bike and parking lanes scattered everywhere.
“The idea of having to pay, I’m a lifelong New Yorker, the idea of having to pay to get from point A to Point B without really having the conversation only to see those things go up anyway … it made me feel like nobody was listening.”
“You can’t get to Broadway in time unless you leave the day before,” Goldberg added.
What to know about congestion pricing
- These rates apply during peak hours, 5 am-9 pm weekdays, 9 am – 9 pm weekends. During other times, tolls are lowers to $2.75 for passenger vehicles, $6 for small trucks, $9 for large trucks, and $1.75 for motorcycles. Other rates remain the same.
- Emergency vehicles, school buses, specialized government vehicles and vehicles carrying people with disabilities are exempt.
- Drivers crossing into Manhattan using a tolled tunnel get a $5 discount.
For Goldberg, her work commute from her $3 million mansion in West Orange, New Jersey to the ABC studio’s on 66th Street would fall within the congestion toll zone if she drove via the Lincoln Tunnel.
Hochul, later defended the plan to the Oscar, Emmy, Grammy and Tony winner.
“There’s many reasons why we’re doing this. This city is immovable,” the governor said. “We’re at a crisis. I could walk backwards in heels faster than most trucks can get down the streets right now. The city is paralyzed.”
Goldberg’s criticism came after MTA chief Janno Lieber told one of the public hearings earlier this month that like it or not, congestion pricing was happening.
“This is state law, and we’re just trying to implement it in an effective way,’’ he said. “This is not about whether we’re doing congestion pricing or not. It’s about [whether] the proposed toll structure makes sense and how much to adjust it.”
The MTA has long argued the additional toll, which aims to curb peak-day congestion on busy Manhattan streets, will reap $1 billion per year that would, in turn, fund major upgrades to subway, commuter railroads and bus systems.
Critics, however, have slammed the toll as a cash grab that’ll only saddle Big Apple drivers with yet another fee — and that it could just end up diverting traffic and pollution to outer boroughs.
