Judge denies Hochul's bid to toss lawsuits seeking to reinstate Manhattan congestion fee

NEW YORK - A New York judge on Friday denied Gov. Kathy Hochul’s request to toss out lawsuits challenging her decision to halt a new congestion fee for drivers into Manhattan.

Judge Arthur Engoron made the decision in a Manhattan court after hearing about two hours of arguments in lawsuits brought by transportation and environmental advocates that support the fee.

The tolling program, which had been set to start June 30, would have imposed on drivers entering the core of Manhattan a toll of about $15, depending on vehicle type, in order to generate about $1 billion annually for transit improvements.

Andrew Celli, a lawyer representing the City Club of New York, one of the local groups that has sued Hochul, said afterward that the judge’s ruling means the lawsuits will move forward and the governor will have to justify her actions in court.

"What the judge did here is he said that congestion pricing will not be delayed by legal technicalities," he said outside court. "That’s a huge victory for people that care about the law and people that care about congestion pricing."

Alan Schoenfeld, a lawyer representing Hochul and the state Department of Transportation in the lawsuits, didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Groups challenging the governor’s decision, including the Riders Alliance, the Sierra Club and the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance, argue the Democrat violated the state’s laws and constitution when she indefinitely paused the fee just days before its planned launch.

Hochul at the time cited economic concerns, suggesting it wasn’t the right time to impose a new toll scheme as local businesses and residents were still recovering financially from the coronavirus pandemic.

In court Friday, Celli argued that state lawmakers deliberately did not give the governor’s office authority on when the fee would be imposed when it passed it 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," Celli said.

But Schoenfeld said it was a "demonstrably false" to suggest that state lawmakers intended to put the tunnel and bridge authority "unilaterally" in charge of congestion pricing.

He argued that the law also recognizes the critical role the governor’s office and state DOT play in the process.

Engoron, at points in the hearing, appeared unmoved by Schoenfeld’s arguments.

He also joked at the outset of the hearing that he drove into Manhattan for the hearing and the traffic was terrible.

"Can’t anyone do anything about that?" Engoron said to laughs before launching into the proceedings.

Dror Ladin, a lawyer with Earthjustice, which 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 Yorkers have dealt with more traffic, more negative health and environmental consequences from air pollution and further delays in desperately needed transit system upgrades.

"There’s a real harm here," Ladin said.

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Follow Philip Marcelo at twitter.com/philmarcelo.