Upper West Side Pol In Hot Water After Driving While Zooming

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — An Upper West Side council member is in hot water after she joined and spoke on a Zoom Monday morning while driving to a mayoral campaign event for Maya Wiley.

From the video of her testimony, Council Member Helen Rosenthal appeared to be driving her car as she spoke during a Finance Committee Hearing about smaller class sizes in New York City schools.

Streetsblog NYC, which covers transportation in the five boroughs and related policy developments in Albany, quickly pounced on the elected official for driving while Zooming.

Today, Council Member @HelenRosenthal testified before the Finance Committee while DRIVING to a rally for @mayawiley...just a few blocks from her home. It's bad enough that politicians drive everywhere, but to do so while testifying is just so reckless. https://t.co/Mi4qlXzp5X
— Streetsblog New York (@StreetsblogNYC) May 25, 2021

Streetsblog also pointed out that Rosenthal was driving just five measly blocks from her Upper West Side home to the campaign event for Wiley. Rosenthal told a reporter at the event that she drove from her apartment because "she didn't want to be later than she already was."

Rosenthal told Patch she has no comment on the matter.

“Given that we know distracted driving kills, it feels rather disingenuous for an elected official to claim they care about preserving life and dignity while Zooming and driving,” Lisa Orman of StreetopiaUWS, told Steetsblog.

You can read the full article on Streetsblog.