Amid ongoing calls for Gov. Kathy Hochul to remove the pause on NYC’s nearly-enacted congestion pricing plan, a New York Supreme Court judge has permitted lawsuits from those in support of the added tolls to proceed.
“I got a ride into Manhattan and the traffic was terrible. Can’t someone do something about it?” Judge Arthur Engoron cracked upon taking the bench on Friday, as reported by Gothamist, who is now presiding two lawsuits brought on by a coalition of advocacy groups.
Organizations such as The City Club of New York and transit advocates with Riders Alliance brought lawsuits seeking to end the governor’s pause and begin charging drivers to enter Manhattan below 60th Street.
The governor’s lawyers argued the effects of tolls on working-class New Yorkers are “too much” and cited her statement that she would resolve the situation at a future date.
However in court, attorneys for the pro-congestion pricing side argued the governor cannot stop the plan, which was paused a day before it was schedule to go into effect, since it was written into law in 2019 by state lawmakers.
The lawyers argued the MTA’s Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, which oversees tunnels and bridges in New York City, should make the final decision in order to remove politics from the case. Earlier this week, the MTA board voted in favor of its proposed $68.5 billion capital plan, which it says will keep the transit system from falling into disrepair following the congestion pricing pause.
On Friday, lawyers said the MTA could have already made $152 million in revenue if the congestion tolls had been activated on June 30 as initially scheduled.
“It’s very clear that the Legislature puts the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority in charge of congestion pricing,” said Andrew Celli, a lawyer for the City Club of New York. “It did that for a really good reason, which is to make it nonpolitical, to avoid exactly what’s happened here, which is political actors sticking their nose into what should be a legal and technological issue.”
Hochul and her team have not commented on the lawsuit and the judge’s ruling. They currently have thirty days to appeal the decision.
