The majority hates congestion pricing

Not mincing words on what the @SienaResearch poll means for congestion pricing. pic.twitter.com/5Bjv96T6Ob

— Joe Borelli (@JoeBorelliNYC) April 22, 2024

NY Post

New York voters overwhelmingly reject having to pay a new $15 “congestion” toll to enter Midtown Manhattan, a statewide poll released Monday shows.

The Siena College survey finds that 63% of voters throughout the Empire State oppose the toll, while only 25% support the pricing scheme promoted by Gov. Kathy Hochul and the MTA to curb congestion and generate nearly $1 billion a year to fund mass transit.

In New York City, 64% of voters are against the first-in-the-nation congestion pricing plan to enter the Manhattan business district south of 60th Street compared to just 33% who back it.

An even higher 72% of voters who reside in the suburbs surrounding the Big Apple — more likely to drive than take mass transit into Manhattan — oppose the controversial toll that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority could implement as early as June.

Opposition to the toll is one of the few issues that unifies all cross-segments of New York voters.

The new toll is opposed by 72% of blacks, 62% of Latinos, 62% of union households, 75% of Republicans, 69% of independent or unaffiliated voters, 75% of Republicans and even a majority 54% of Democrats.

Congestion pricing is being implemented because of a state law championed by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Democrat-controlled legislature in 2019 — yet only 34% of Democrats support it.

Hochul, Cuomo’s successor, has defended congestion pricing as a good thing amid a plethora of lawsuits to block it.

“A majority of Democrats, two-thirds of independents and three-quarters of Republicans oppose the soon-expected congestion pricing toll plan, as do approximately two-thirds of downstaters and a majority of upstaters,” said Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg.

One in seven voters — 14% of respondents — said they would travel less to Manhattan to avoid the toll, while 17% said they would find another way to get to Midtown that could include mass transit.

Another 14% of respondents said the toll would have no effect on their travel patterns while 44% said they don’t go to Manhattan. The poll queried upstaters who rarely venture into the Big Apple.

Congestion pricing imposes a $15 toll on cars traveling anywhere below 60th Street between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends.

Overnight, the toll drops to $3.25.            

Eric the Despised

 

 

Qunnipiac

As New York City Mayor Eric Adams nears the end of his second year in office, voters give the mayor a negative 28 - 58 percent job approval rating with 14 percent not offering an opinion, according to a Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pea-ack) University poll of registered voters in New York City released today.

This is the lowest job approval rating for a New York City mayor since Quinnipiac University began polling New York City registered voters in 1996. Before today, the previous low was a negative 31 - 60 percent job approval rating for Mayor Bloomberg in July 2003.

In today's poll, the mayor receives his only positive rating from Black voters who approve of the job he is doing 48 - 38 percent.

Among his own party, Democrats give him a negative 35 - 49 percent job approval rating.

Voters were asked about Mayor Adams' handling of:

• crime: 33 percent approve, while 60 percent disapprove;
• the public schools: 31 percent approve, while 53 percent disapprove;
• the surge of migrants seeking sanctuary in New York City: 26 percent approve, while 66 percent disapprove;
• the city budget: 22 percent approve, while 66 percent disapprove;
• homelessness: 22 percent approve, while 72 percent disapprove.

NYC prefers millionaire's tax to congestion pricing

From AM-NY:

A majority of New Yorkers prefer a millionaire's tax over congestion pricing when it comes to funding fixes to the city’s crumbling transit infrastructure, a new poll found.

Sixty-four percent of registered voters who were surveyed said they support a proposal to increase taxes on the city’s wealthiest earners, while only 21 percent favored tolling motorists entering Manhattan, according to the Quinnipiac University Poll released on Friday.

Support for the millionaire's tax was strong in each borough and spanned across every listed party, gender, age and racial group, the poll found. Support was highest in Queens, with 71 percent of those polled favoring the millionaire's tax over congestion pricing.

From the poll:

A total of 28 percent of voters rate the quality of New York City subway service as "excellent" or "good," while 64 percent rate it "not so good" or "poor."

The best rating is among Manhattan voters - 5 percent "excellent" and 30 percent "good." The lowest score is among Queens voters - less than 1 percent "excellent" and 20 percent "good."

The results are in

In a head to head matchup between Elizabeth Crowley and Paul Vallone, Mr. Vallone won by a hair.

Congratulations! Please contact Mr. Graziano to collect your award.

Friday primary election poll question

It's a been a long time since we featured a poll question on the blog, so here goes.

When asked about a mailer of hers that was used as part of a bomb threat against her opponent, Council Member Elizabeth Crowley blamed the victim:

"Our mailer highlights a quote that came directly from Bob Holden and demonstrates the anger he provokes among his neighbors."

Meanwhile, Council Member Paul Vallone practically admitted that his campaign used underage canvassers to collect petition signatures and blamed his opponent for recording them in action:

"Graziano had his day in court and didn’t show up. What’s more disturbing is a grown man chasing after and harassing student volunteers with a video camera."

online survey

De Blasio sailing toward re-election

From the Daily News:

Mayor de Blasio has pulled up his job approval rating to its highest level in a year and would easily beat his leading Republican challenger, according to a new poll.

De Blasio leads Republican Paul Massey by a 59% to 25% margin in the Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday.

He gets a 50% approval rating, the best number he’s had in a year, compared to 42% of voters who disapprove of the job he’s doing as mayor.

Some 47% of New Yorkers said the mayor deserves reelection, while 44% said he does not.

Well folks, it seems we get the representation we deserve.

Most of NY state hates Bill

From the Daily News:

More New York State residents have favorable views of Donald Trump than Mayor de Blasio, a new poll found.

Statewide, 41% of New Yorkers say they have a favorable opinion of the President-elect, compared to 53% who have an unfavorable view, according to the Siena College poll released Monday.

De Blasio gets a lower rating favorability rating, at 35%. Another 45% said they have an unfavorable opinion.

But in the city, residents are overwhelmingly negative toward Trump — with 60% viewing him unfavorably, compared to 34% who see him favorably. De Blasio gets a 45% to 48% rating within the five boroughs.

Gov. Cuomo is more popular than both — with a 56% favorability rating statewide, and 68% in the city — but state voters don’t think he should run for President in four years.

Bogus BQX poll

From the Daily News:

Mayor de Blasio’s Brooklyn-Queens trolley would be a streetcar desired, according to a poll released Thursday from a real estate-backed group pushing the project.

The poll for the Friends of the BQX — also known as the Brooklyn-Queens Connector — shows that voters in seven City Council districts along the route back the project, 74% to 16%.

Tom Angotti, a Hunter College urban planning professor and BQX critic, dismissed the poll results as “foreordained” with a “self-promoting set of messages.”

He said that city officials have dumped this project on waterfront areas, without considering whether it’s even needed.

“If you were to ask any transportation expert, what would you do with a couple of billion dollars to improve the surface transportation system, you wouldn’t build a waterfront trolley line,” he added.

Voters ready to dump de Blasio...but for whom?

From the Daily News:

Mayor de Blasio’s approval ratings remain in the toilet as multiple investigations swirl around his administration, with 51% of voters saying they disapprove of his job performance in a new poll.

Hizzoner’s 51%-42% rating in Monday’s Quinnipiac University poll remains largely unchanged since his worst-ever poll numbers in May, when 52% of voters approved and 41% disapproved.

Half of voters say de Blasio does not deserve reelection next year, compared to just 42% who say he does.

But de Blasio outpolls potential challengers tested in the survey — 45% say they’d pick him against City Controller Scott Stringer running as an independent, who gets 32%. That’s an improvement from May, when de Blasio was statistically tied with Stringer.

Former City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, polled by Quinnipiac for the first time, was favored by 33% for a general election matchup, compared to 43% for de Blasio.

Do you trust this man with our schools?

From the NY Post:

With Albany just weeks away from deciding on extending Mayor de Blasio’s control of the public schools, voters in the city are split on the issue, according to a poll released Monday.

The Quinnipiac University survey found 46 percent of voters in the five boroughs favored an extension, while 43 percent didn’t.
Opposition was far higher outside the city.

“Upstaters and suburbanites don’t want Mayor Bill de Blasio to keep control of New York City schools. Even New York City voters aren’t that wild about the idea,” said pollster Maurice Carroll.

“Since this issue is decided by the state Legislature, not the New York City Council, Mayor de Blasio will have to press his case in Albany.”

The state Senate plans hearings on the issue next month.

People opposed to corruption in poll

From the Daily News:

Nearly nine in 10 New Yorkers say corruption in Albany is a serious problem, and 60% believe lawmakers’ jobs should be full time and any outside income banned.

The Siena College poll, released Monday, also found 55% said legislators should not get a bump from their current $79,500 salary even if outside income is outlawed.

And a whopping 84% say lawmakers who are convicted of crimes related to their service should be stripped of their pensions.

DeBlasio not popular right now

From the Daily News:

New Yorkers overwhelmingly disapprove of the way Mayor de Blasio is handling homelessness and crime — and think the quality of life in New York City has taken a turn for the worse, according to a poll released Friday.

The new Quinnipiac poll found that 61% of voters disapprove of the way de Blasio is handling poverty and homelessness, which he promised to improve during the 2013 City Hall race.

Twenty-eight percent of those surveyed said they thought the mayor was doing a good job on those issues.

And more than half — 53% — think the city's quality of life is getting worse, not better, the poll found. That's compared to just 14% who think it's getting better.

Fifty-nine percent of voters think the mayor isn't doing a good job stopping crime, compared to 35% who think he's doing a good job, the poll found.

Throw the bums out!

From NY Post:

A Gallup Poll released Friday found that three-quarters of Americans believe government corruption is widespread. That’s up by 9 percentage points since 2009, when only 66 percent of American adults said that federal, state and local officials were not to be trusted.

The results mirror New Yorkers’ attitudes about Albany in a new Quinnipiac University poll. A majority of voters in the state — 56 percent — say they want to throw all elected state official out of office so untainted lawmakers can take over.

Yet we'll re-elect the same trash again come Election Day. Yay!

We want Walmart

From AM-NY:

A Quinnipiac poll released Monday, August 10 stated that 55 percent of New York City voters believed that Walmart should be allowed to open stores in NYC. 54% of NYC voters in union households also polled in support of Walmart.

While 39 percent don't believe Walmart should be allowed to open, if Walmart did come to NYC, 64 percent of voters say they would shop there.

Voters however showed some inconsistent opinions on how Walmart's presence would effect NYC. Seventy-one percent believed that that Walmart's lower prices would benefit shoppers while a similar 70 percent also said that Walmart's lower prices hurt smaller businesses.

Fifty-five percent agreed that Walmart doesn't pay enough in wages and medical benefits.

People not happy with de Blasio

From NY Post:

New Yorkers flunked Mayor de Blasio in a devastating poll ­released Wednesday — giving him his lowest approval rating yet amid revelations in The Post about a growing grade-fixing scandal in city schools.

The Quinnipiac University poll — conducted from last Thursday through Tuesday — found that only 38 percent of voters approved of his handling of the schools.

That’s down 11 points from this time last year and three points from a poll in May.

“His education numbers are not good . . . given what is going on these days with The Post. It hurts,” said pollster Maurice Carroll.

The numbers also showed that more people believed de Blasio did not deserve re-election than those who said he did, by 47-41 percent.

“The election calendar keeps getting shorter. So even though it’s two years away, Mayor de Blasio has to be concerned that his re-election numbers are narrowly negative,” Carroll said.

Neither the mayor nor the governor is very popular

From Crains:

Bill de Blasio and Andrew Cuomo have something in common: Their approval ratings have hit personal lows.

Only 44% of New Yorkers approve of the way Mr. de Blasio is handling his job, down from 49% in January, according to a Quinnipiac poll released Tuesday. Forty percent say they disapprove of Mr. de Blasio's job performance.

The poll's respondents are divided over Mr. de Blasio's foray into national politics: 46% said they thought it was "distracting," while 42% said it wasn't. Twelve percent had no opinion.

Quinnipiac University surveyed 969 New York City voters from May 6 through May 11, with a margin of error of 3.2 percentage points.

The seemingly endless stream of corruption scandals in Albany have taken their toll on Mr. Cuomo's approval rating, even though they have all involved the legislature, not the governor. According to a Wall Street Journal/Marist poll released Tuesday, his job performance rating has slipped to 37%, the lowest point since he was first elected in 2011.

People not impressed with big bad Bill

From CBS New York:

There is good news and bad news for Mayor Bill de Blasio in a new poll about the Big Apple.

The good news is the mayor’s approval rating is up 44 percent from 39 percent last year, according to the poll conducted by the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion.

Six in 10 voters also have a favorable impression of de Blasio, but only 40 percent say de Blasio is changing the city for the better, and 53 percent don’t think his policies are historic and transforming the city.

There’s also growing pessimism in the city.

Forty-nine percent of people say the city is headed in the wrong direction, and 57 percent say the overall quality of life in the city has gotten worse or remained the same in the past year.

They needed to take a poll?

From the Daily News:

A whopping 92% of New Yorkers believe state government corruption is a serious problem, according to a Siena College poll released Tuesday.

“People are obviously upset about corruption and think it’s a major problem,” said Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg. “They clearly think we need to change the way the Legislature operates.”

The poll found that 58% of voters support keeping the Legislature part-time as long as lawmakers are forced to publicly reveal all their outside income, where it comes from, and who they work for — compared with 40% who would prefer to create a full-time Legislature where outside employment is banned.

Honeymoon is over for DeBlasio

From NY Observer:

In the first measure of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s approval rating since late August, his popularity is holding steady citywide – but white voters increasingly disapprove of the mayor in a growing racial divide.

“His job approval rating two months in is positive and pretty good, but disturbingly ethnically divided,” Quinnipiac University Poll Assistant Director Maurice Carroll said this afternoon.

Voters overall citywide approve of Mr. de Blasio 49 percent, with 36 percent disapproving — moving little since the last poll in late August showed the mayor with a 50 percent approval rating.

A full 50 percent of white voters now disapprove of the mayor’s performance, up from 45 percent in August — with just 34 percent of whites approving of the job he’s doing. That’s in sharp contrast to the mayor’s favor with black voters: 71 percent of black voters support the job he’s doing, with only 14 percent disapproving. Among Hispanic voters, 56 percent approve and 27 percent disapprove.

Cuomo challenger releases plan to clean up Albany

The Astorino/Moss Plan to Clean Up Albany

• Term Limits - Limit statewide elected officials to two terms (8 years) and state legislators to four terms (8 years).
  
• Limit Legislative Session - Convene regular session the first week in January and end on April 1, when the budget is due; Special session throughout the year can be called by a petition request from two-thirds vote of both legislative houses or by the Governor as defined in the State Constitution.
  
• Independent State Commission on Public Ethics (I-SCOPE) to replace J-COPE. Five members appointed by judiciary with independent budget to receive and investigate complaints of official misconduct, including sexual harassment and assault.
  
• Strengthen FOIL - Require proactive online posting of records and information required for release under FOIL requests; Information would be posted on single statewide database managed by State Comptroller.
  
• Defined Contribution Plan for Newly Elected - Require all newly elected officials to join SUNY's Defined Contribution Plan instead of the existing pension system.
  
• Pension Strip -Loss of taxpayer-funded pension for any elected official convicted of public corruption.
  
• Prohibit Personal Use of Campaign Money - Establish clear guidelines to limit donations solely to election-related activities.
  
• Ban Conflict of Interest Member Items - No "member items" to any non-profit or business affiliated with a state elected official or an immediate family member.
  
• Replace Per-Diem System and require receipts for travel, lodge and food.
  
• End Taxpayer-funded Vanity - Prohibit any building, facility or capital project that was paid for with taxpayer money to be named for any current elected official.

Sounds good, but will it happen? Polls show Cuomo with a very large lead over Astorino.