New Jersey's most vociferous opponent of congestion pricing was caught illegally parking on a Lower Manhattan street on Wednesday — allowing reporters to quickly determine that the car was nabbed last month by a city speed camera.
Rep. Josh Gottheimer held a press conference in front of MTA headquarters on Wednesday morning to complain that the agency has not responded to his Feb. 22 demand that the MTA provide "the data, calculations, and discussions that went into their congestion tax revenue projections."
At one point after the press conference, Gottheimer's driver cooled his heels inside a fancy Ford Mustang parked in a "No standing" zone on Pearl Street, as seen in this historic video:
The vehicle might have only been illegally parked for seconds, judging from an earlier video showing Gottheimer avoiding reporters by ducking into a Duane Reade. The car is spotted in this video on Broadway:
In any event, it is the same car that was caught on camera speeding in a school zone on March 2 on West Street near 11th Street in Manhattan, according to city data (summarized below):
It's unclear why the congressman was in Manhattan, far from his north Jersey district, on the evening of March 2. His social media account shows that he had lunch in his district earlier that day:
Supporters of safe streets and congestion pricing were appalled at Gottheimer's privileged behavior on Wednesday and in the past.
"Like other rich drivers in the central business district, Rep. Gottheimer and his donors can afford to pay their fair share to support the region's transit system," said Riders Alliance spokesman Danny Pearlstein. "Of course, the congressman owes his constituents, and New York toddlers alike, better than speeding down city streets."
Pearlstein called the $50 fine for a camera-issued ticket "chump change for hot-rodders like him" and called for the state to set "fines based on [a driver's] ability to pay."
And the MTA made sport of its bitter rival.
"Maybe Gridlock Gottheimer should spend his time fixing underfunded and underperforming transit service in New Jersey instead of tooling around Manhattan in a chauffeured automobile causing even more congestion," said MTA External Affairs Chief John McCarthy.
Regarding the substance of Gottheimer's appearance in Lower Manhattan on Wednesday, the congressman has claimed that he has done calculations to show that the MTA will raise billions more in congestion pricing revenue than the agency says. But multiple experts have criticized Gottheimer's projections and calculations.
"Gottheimer’s math is a joke," McCarthy previously told Streetsblog. "It’s scary for Americans that this congestion-loving politician — who serves on the Financial Services Committee in the United States Congress — clearly can’t count."
A spokesperson for Rep. Gottheimer did call back to our request for comment, but then declined to provide one.
