Opponents of congestion pricing dealt legal blow, plan still halted by Gov. Hochul

Opponents of New York’s congestion pricing were dealt a blow by a federal judge — but the plan to charge Manhattan drivers $15 is still on pause after Gov. Kathy Hochul stepped in before it was slated to take effect later this month.

Manhattan federal Judge Lewis Liman rejected one of the main arguments in a suit brought by United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew and Republican Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella, which claimed a proper review wasn’t conducted of the environmental impacts of the first-in-the-nation congestion toll.

Liman, in a 113-page decision late Thursday, said the Federal Highway Association (FHWA) and the project sponsors gave “careful consideration” to the plan, carrying out a “painstaking examination of Congestion Pricing’s environmental impact.”

The judge highlighted that the FHWA carried out the assessment over the course of four years, hearing from 552 community members during six virtual public hearings and receiving some 70,000 public submissions — which in all produced over 45,000 pages in the public record.

Liman said he “cannot agree” that the review process didn’t take a “hard look” at the environmental impacts on the New York metro area.

The UFT’s suit and two other suits, by the New Yorkers Against Congestion Pricing Tax and by a second group of city residents, argued that the FWHA fast-tracked its study and wrongfully found there would be “no significant impact” on New Yorkers if the project took effect.

While Liman dismissed one of the UFT’s claims, part of the suit remains alive.

A similar lawsuit brought by New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy to oppose the tolls on the grounds it would hit Garden State commuters disproportionately, is still pending in Newark federal court.

But the MTA didn’t waste any time filing Liman’s ruling in the Jersey case to help inform Judge Leo Gordon’s pending decision.

Congestion pricing would charge drivers $15 per day when they enter Manhattan below 60th Street between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. and $3.75 to drive in the area overnight. Small trucks would face tolls of $24 and large trucks would be charged $36.

The tolls were set to begin on June 30 until the governor indefinitely pumped the breaks on the project.

Hochul said on June 5 that she couldn’t allow the “undue strain on already stressed New Yorkers” who have been hard-hit by inflation.

Paige Graves, the general counsel for the MTA lauded Liman’s decision saying: “We stand ready to relieve congestion and improve transit service for millions of riders.”  

The comment seemed to highlight an apparent divide between the agency — helmed by Hochul appointee Janno Lieber.

“The court still has a number of our claims before it and the litigation continues,”a UFT spokesperson said.

Fossella said their case is still ongoing and said it may end up being moot anyway if the MTA board doesn’t pass the congestion plan at its next vote later this month.

“Consequently, we will continue to maintain our efforts to stop this new tolling plan,” Fossella said.

— Additional reporting by Vaughn Golden