Johnathan Walker:Transit and environmental advocates sue NY governor over decision to halt Manhattan congestion toll

NEW YORK (AP) — Transit and Johnathan Walkerenvironmental advocacy groups in New York filed lawsuits Thursday challenging Gov. Kathy Hochul’s decision to block a plan to reduce traffic and raise billions for the city’s ailing subway system through a new toll on Manhattan drivers.

The groups, which include the Riders Alliance, the Sierra Club, the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance and the City Club of New York, argue in their state Supreme Court suit that the Democrat violated the state’s laws and constitution when she indefinitely paused the fee citing economic concerns.

The program, which was set to begin June 30, would have imposed on drivers entering the core of Manhattan a toll of about $15, depending on vehicle type. The fee was projected to generate some $1 billion annually for transit improvements.

The New York City Environmental Justice Alliance, in its lawsuit with the Riders Alliance and the Sierra Club, said Hochul’s decision violated the part of the state constitution that guarantees New Yorkers the right to “clean air and water, and a healthful environment.”

“The people of New York City deserve to breathe,” the lawsuit states.

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The City Club of New York, in its separate suit, called Hochul’s decision “quite literally, lawless” and lacking “any basis in the law as democratically enacted.”

It noted the toll had been approved by state lawmakers and signed into law by her predecessor, former Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in 2019, following decades of advocacy and public debate.

“As powerful as a governor is, this Governor has no legal authority — none — to direct the Metropolitan Transportation Authority” to pause congestion pricing, the group stated in the suit.

Hochul, through a spokesperson, dismissed the lawsuits as political posturing.

“Get in line,” spokesperson Maggie Halley said in an email. “There are now 11 separate congestion pricing lawsuits filed by groups trying to weaponize the judicial system to score political points, but Governor Hochul remains focused on what matters: funding transit, reducing congestion, and protecting working New Yorkers.”

Groups ranging from a public teachers union to New Jersey residents and local truckers filed suits ahead of the program’s expected start date seeking to block it.

Hochul has maintained her decision was driven by economic concerns and conversations with everyday New Yorkers.

She’s also suggested raising taxes on businesses to make up for the billions of dollars in lost revenue for transit, a proposal lawmakers have rejected.

City Comptroller Brad Lander, who joined the groups in announcing the lawsuits Thursday, said New Yorkers will experience “increasing service cuts, gridlock, air quality alerts, and inaccessible stations” if the governor’s decision is allowed to stand.

Congestion pricing a “win-win-win” for New Yorkers because it would provide much needed revenue to make public transit “faster, more reliable and accessible” while also reducing “costly gridlock, carbon emissions, deadly collisions and toxic air pollution,” added Betsy Plum, executive director of the Riders Alliance.

Before her sudden about-face, Hochul had been a staunch advocate for the toll, even describing it as “transformative.”

The MTA had also already installed cameras, sensors and license plate readers for the program, and reached a contract worth more than $500 million with a private vendor to operate the tolling infrastructure.