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NEW YORK (AP) – A judge in New York on Friday denied the Gov. Kathy Hochul to drop lawsuits challenging her decision to suspend a new congestion fee for Manhattan drivers.
Judge Arthur Engoron made the decision in a Manhattan court after hearing two hours of arguments in lawsuits brought by transportation and environmental advocates who support the fee.
The toll program, which was scheduled to begin June 30, would have imposed a toll of about $15 on drivers entering the Manhattan core, depending on the type of vehicle, to generate about $1 billion annually on for transportation improvements.
Andrew Celli, a lawyer representing the New York City Club, one of the local groups that has sued Hochul, said afterwards that the judge’s ruling means the lawsuits will move forward and the governor will have to justify her actions in court.
“What this judge has done is he has said that congestion pricing will not be delayed due to legal technicalities,” he said outside court. “That’s a huge win for people who care about the law and people who care about congestion pricing.”
John Lindsay, a spokesman for Hochul, declined to comment on the decision but said in a statement late Friday that the governor “like most New Yorkers” still “believes this is not the right time to implement congestion pricing.”
Groups challenging the governor’s decision, including the Riders Alliance, the Sierra Club and the New York City Environmental Justice League, argue that the Democrat violated laws and the state constitution when he paused the fee indefinitely just days before its planned launch.
Hochul cited economic concerns at the time, suggesting it was not the right time to impose a new toll plan as local businesses and residents were still recovering financially from the coronavirus pandemic.
In court on Friday, Celli argued that state lawmakers intentionally did not give the governor’s office authority over when the fee would be set when it was passed into law in 2019.
Instead, he argued, the legislature charged the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, which oversees the bridges and tunnels in the New York City area, with making that final decision in order to remove politics from the equation.
“She doesn’t have the discretion,” said Celli.
But Alan Schoenfeld, a lawyer representing Hochul and the state Department of Transportation in the lawsuits, said it was “manifestly false” to suggest state lawmakers intended to “unilaterally” put the tunnel and bridge authority in charge. for congestion pricing.
He argued that the law also recognizes the critical role the governor’s office and the state DOT play in the process.
Engoron, at times in the hearing, appeared unmoved by Schoenfeld’s arguments.
He also joked at the start of the hearing that he drove to Manhattan for the hearing and that the traffic was “terrible.”
“Can anyone do something about that?” Engoron said laughing before launching into the proceedings.
Dror Ladin, a lawyer with Earthjustice, who represented some of the groups challenging Hochul, also argued that the months since the governor’s decision this summer have been damaging.
He says New York has dealt with more traffic, more negative health and environmental consequences of air pollution and further delays in badly needed transit system upgrades.
“There is real harm here,” said Ladin.
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Follow Philip Marcelo at twitter.com/philmarcelo.
Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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