Courtesy of WRCR.
Two lawsuits were filed yesterday against New York’s governor and the MTA looking to get congestion pricing back on track. Governor Kathy Hochul slammed the brakes on the controversial plan just weeks before it was set to go into effect on June 30th. The City Club of New York is challenging Hochul’s ability to single-handedly block the 2019 MTA Reform and Traffic Mobility Act that gave rise to the congestion pricing plan. Hochul’s “indefinite pause” leaves a $15 billion hole in the MTA’s Capital Program that would have funded the MTA plans for various upgrades to the transit system. The Riders Alliance claims Hochul’s move violated the state constitutional right to clean air and a healthy environment. Assemblyman John McGowan of the 97th district, covering Orangetown and portions of Ramapo, doesn’t see it that way…
Rockland Business Association CEO Al Samuels says the plan was never fair to area commuters…
Assemblyman Chris Eachus of the 99th District, covering Stony Point and parts of Orange County, says it seems the only ones who support the congestion pricing plan are environmentalists…
Drivers entering the so-called Congestion Relief Zone below 60th Street during peak hours would have been hit with a $15 toll. Officials projected it would eliminate 100,000 vehicles from entering the zone each day, resulting in less traffic and cleaner air in the city, and help finance maintenance and new projects for the MTA, many of which have been put on hold since the plan was put on hold. A Hochul spokesperson told the New York Post the groups should “get in line” behind the other congestion pricing lawsuits filed by groups that were “trying to weaponize the judicial system to score political points.”