> I thought nobody in NYC had a car. Car ownership is relatively rare in NYC, with NYC being the only city in which the majority of residents do not have a ca

> I thought nobody in NYC had a car. Car ownership is relatively rare in NYC, with NYC being the only city in which the majority of residents do not have a car. However, car ownership in NYC is strongly positively correlated with income[0], which means that local politicians and their key supporters are more likely to own cars, drive cars, and listen to the complaints of car-driving non-residents (e.g. the police, the majority of whom live outside the city, mostly in Long Island). That means that politicians are reluctant to back any measure that makes driving or car ownership more inconvenient, not because their constituents don't support it, but because it inconveniences them personally. Anytime it comes up, they make a big effort to back the car-owning minority, making it seem like they're standing up for the "working class", when in reality they're very clearly just taking the stance that their wealthiest donors/supporters are pushing for. [0] https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2007/11/02/fact-check-congestion-pricing-is-not-a-regressive-tax/ https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2007/11/02/fact-check-congestion...