CEO who lives on Billionaire’s Row is mocked for moaning about NYC’s new $9 congestion charge

A CEO who lives on New York’s famed Billionaire’s Row has been mocked for complaining about New York City’s new $9 congestion charge impacting his five-minute drive.

US property magnate Andrew Scott Heiberger, 56, has been branded as outrageous and ‘outrageously elitist’ after his street interview about the tax went viral.

Heiberger lives in a swanky high-rise on the Upper East Side of Billionaire’s Row that would cost $12,000 a month to rent.

He complained about the green tax during an interview with Freedom News TV on Sunday – the day New Yorkers were hit with the nation’s first toll.

“Starting today, the congestion charge will go into effect: $9 per day to pass through 60th Street,” Heiberger said.

“While I don’t agree with it for many reasons, especially for me, it really affects me because I live here on 61st Street in this building, and my car is parked right there in front of my building.

“If I want to turn around and go into town to visit my kids who live on 79th Street, I have to pay nine dollars to go around the block because I can’t go into town without going around the block and nine dollars to pay.

‘I think something should be arranged on behalf of the residents.’

The CEO’s comments were met with ridicule. People labeled Heiberger elitist because he missed the whole point of the congestion charge.

Others pointed out that the businessman’s journey to see his children can easily be made in less than 20 minutes – or just a few minutes by bus, bicycle or subway.

The goal of congestion pricing is to reduce short trips like Heiberger’s, which cause traffic congestion and pollution, while increasing revenue for public transportation.

“Who drives from 61st St to 79th St lol,” one person commented under the video of Heiberger complaining.

‘This is a rich CEO. The $9 goes to the MTA to help regular New Yorkers get around,” one man commented.

“Look at this guy, I think he might be able to pay some compensation,” one person agreed, while another said, “And the guy is a real estate mogul from New York,” alongside a laughing face emoji.

“All New Yorkers, who know full well what real estate on 61st Street and Fifth Avenue is worth, hear the world’s smallest violin played here,” one woman added.

“Disgraceful elitist,” someone else agreed. ‘The most expensive residential area in the most expensive part of the most expensive neighborhood in New York. Literally a seven-minute walk to a $105 million listing.”

Billionaires Row is the stretch of Fifth Avenue that runs along Central Park. Past residents include Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Barbara Walters.

Heiberger, who comes from a family of real estate agents, is the founder of two Manhattan-based real estate companies: Buttonwood Development and Town Residential.

He previously served as CEO of Citi Habitats, a residential real estate brokerage he founded in 1994 and sold ten years later. He is also a qualified lawyer.

Heiberger is a member of several prestigious groups, including the Real Estate Board of New York, the World Presidents’ Organization and the New York State Bar Association.

Congestion tolls officially went into effect in New York City on Sunday, after New York State Governor Kathy Hochul announced in November that motorists entering parts of Manhattan below 60th Street, or south of Central Park, would pay tolls during the day .

Drivers entering some of New York’s busiest neighborhoods will now have to pay $9 during peak hours on weekdays (5 a.m. to 9 p.m.) and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends.

A surcharge of €2.25 applies for off-peak hours. During peak hours, large trucks can pay $21.60, a reduced rate of $14.40 for smaller trucks and $4.50 for motorcycles.

Those who have an EZPass and enter the toll zone through the Lincoln, Queens-Midtown, Hugh L. Carey or Holland tunnels during peak hours will be charged a $3 credit fee.

The only exceptions are for certain emergency vehicles, school buses, people with disabilities who cannot travel on public transportation and those who transport with them – all of which are exempt.

Low-income drivers who pay the toll ten times a month can request a 50 percent discount on trips they make the rest of the month.

Locals are outraged by the new fee, albeit for different reasons than Heiberger.

“Over 20,000 taxes paid this year in NYC. Tolls when you drive anywhere, including the new toll for driving in the city we already live in, public transport and the streets are NOT safe, potholes everywhere…’, one resident wrote on X.

“Where does all our money that we pay in taxes go as a New York resident? We need answers. Real ones, and not cheap, politically correct ones either.’

The MTA claimed the tolls are needed to raise $15 billion for transit upgrades — expanding the Second Avenue subway, signal improvements and purchasing hundreds of new electric buses.

But the rollout comes after 10 people were murdered on the metro system last year, with more and more incidents taking place in the new year.

Opponents like Susan Lee urged the MTA to first modernize transportation systems to make it safer for residents before the tolls go into effect.

Republican lawmakers have called on Trump, a native New Yorker who has vowed to end the plan if elected, to act now and end it.

But Hochul and the state-run MTA were racing against time to impose the toll before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20.

Trump has joined the 51 percent of New Yorkers who oppose the tax, calling it the “most regressive tax known to women.”

New York has said that more than 900,000 vehicles enter the Manhattan Central Business District every day, reducing travel speeds to an average of about 7 miles per hour.