Advocates sue Gov. Hochul over her decision to halt NYC congestion pricing

Congestion pricing proponents want to see New York Gov. Kathy Hochul in court.

A group of local advocates filed a pair of lawsuits against the governor on Thursday, claiming she lacked the legal authority to order the MTA to pause the Manhattan tolling program last month. It was originally scheduled to launch on June 30 until Hochul made an eleventh-hour declaration that it would not move forward.

One lawsuit was filed by the City Club of New York, along with two Hell’s Kitchen residents. The suit argues that Hochul’s move to stop the tolls violates the 2019 state law that first authorized congestion pricing.

“Gov. Hochul’s purported ‘pause’ of the [congestion pricing program] is, quite literally, lawless: It lacks any basis in the law as democratically enacted,” the filing states.

The other legal challenge was filed by the advocacy groups Riders Alliance, the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance and the Sierra Club. It claims that Hochul’s decision “deprives New Yorkers of necessary air quality benefits and greenhouse gas reductions that were required by law and relied on in official plans to achieve climate mandates.”

“We’re filing today’s case because congestion pricing will be a win-win-win for all New Yorkers, commuters and visitors by making public transit faster, more reliable and accessible — and reducing costly gridlock, carbon emissions, deadly collisions and toxic air pollution,” Riders Alliance Executive Director Betsy Plum wrote in a statement.

New York City Comptroller Brad Lander has over the last month used his office to help organize the lawsuits. They mark the strongest challenge against Hochul’s June 5 decision to halt the tolls.

"We have long said that while the governor calls it an 'indefinite pause,' we fear that it could in effect be the cancellation of congestion pricing," Lander said during a news conference announcing the lawsuits on Thursday.

The groups expect the lawsuits to go before a judge in September, said Andrew Celli, a lawyer representing the City Club of New York in its suit.

A spokesperson for Hochul released a statement aggressively pushing back against the lawsuits.

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

Halley appeared to conflate the new lawsuits, which aim to force Hochul to restore the tolls, with others that seek to stop the MTA from launching them.

The program was supposed to impose a base $15 daytime toll for drivers to enter Manhattan south of 60th Street. The program was legally required to finance a suite of upgrades to the city’s mass transit infrastructure.

The MTA announced last month it would hold off on implementing $16.5 billion worth of upgrades as a result of Hochul’s order to halt congestion pricing. Those include plans to install new signals to speed up subway service, purchase new train cars, and the next phase of the Second Avenue Subway.

The agency had also planned to make 72 stations accessible as part of its current construction program. Without the funding, MTA officials announced 23 of those stations will not get elevators as promised.

The lawsuits follow another one filed last week by Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and Transport Workers Union Local 100 that argues that the loss of the congestion pricing revenue forced the MTA to cut bus service.

Hochul has argued that the $15 fee would hurt local businesses in Manhattan still recovering from the pandemic. She said New Yorkers who drive into the city also could not shoulder the costs.

Many of the governor's critics and fellow lawmakers maintain her move was a political ploy to secure votes in a handful of competitive districts in the state.

Government watchdog Reinvent Albany recently published an analysis finding that 100,000 jobs across New York state could be at risk because the MTA cannot move forward with certain projects due to Hochul's pause of the tolling program.

This story has been updated with additional information .