Two lawsuits trying to force Gov. Kathy Hochul to enact congestion pricing should be dismissed because, technically, the controversial plan was never canceled, her lawyers say in a new court filing.
It’s a case of semantics that Hochul’s lawyers are using to try to convince a Manhattan judge to toss the dueling suits filed by pro-congestion-pricing advocates against her.
Hochul famously slammed the brakes on the plan — which would toll drivers $15 for entering Manhattan below 59th Street — just before it was due to be implemented in June. She claimed it unfairly burdened people already struggling with a flailing economy.
She framed the move as an “indefinite” pause on the long-awaited proposal.
Her lawyers argue that the related lawsuits now against her “misread state statutes” and mischaracterize “Governor Hochul’s pause as a final agency determination.
“She did not say she planned to veto the project or that the pause would be permanent,” her lawyers say.
Even if it were reasonable to call the “pause” a de-facto final decision, “any resulting alleged harm is impermissibly speculative,” according to the court filing.
The suits are being used “as a vehicle to litigate the wisdom of a discretionary, non-final policy decision by the executive branch” and are seeking to tie-up the courts over a “difference of opinion,” the filing said.
The lawyers say the “proper forum” for the “disagreement …is in the political realm,” and that dissenters can find resolution at the “ ‘voting machine’— not the courts.”
But one of the plaintiffs, the pro-mass-transit Riders Alliance, called her argument “incoherent” and “embarrassing.” The group’s lawsuit claims Hochul broke the state’s climate-change law when she enacted the “pause,” leaving more cars on the road.
“Her lawyers argue the pause is ‘temporary’, yet the Governor said it’s ‘indefinite, which, by definition, implies a permanent pause is also possible on the Gov’s whim,” the group posted on social media. “Sounds pretty arbitrary and capricious to us.”
Rep. Jerry Nadler, a supporter of congestion pricing, told The Post that he thinks the plan “will move forward.”
Hochul’s “indefinite pause” on it has left $500 million in tolling equipment collecting dust. The MTA also had to abruptly change course on major construction and rehab plans once the expected $15 billion in revenue from the tolling scheme was no longer a sure bet.
Advocacy groups, in their suits, claim that Hochul is duty-bound to enact congestion pricing and that by putting it on “indefinite pause,” she is condemning New Yorkers to a future of pollution and poorly funded public transit.
According to sources, Hochul is eyeing a revised version of congestion pricing with a new pricing scheme and more exemptions, such as for cops and teachers. More details are expected to be released after November’s elections.
“Like the majority of New Yorkers, Governor Hochul believes this is not the right time to implement congestion pricing. We can’t comment on litigation,” Hochul spokesman John Lindsay said Tuesday.
Additional reporting by Vaughn Golden
