NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� A New York judge on Friday denied Gov. Kathy Hochul鈥檚 request to toss out lawsuits challenging her decision to for drivers into Manhattan.
Judge Arthur Engoron made the decision in a Manhattan court after hearing about two hours of arguments in lawsuits that support the fee.
The tolling program, which had been , 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鈥檚 ruling means the lawsuits will move forward and the governor will have to justify her actions in court.
鈥淲hat the judge did here is he said that congestion pricing will not be delayed by legal technicalities,鈥� he said outside court. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a huge victory for people that care about the law and people that care about congestion pricing.鈥�
John Lindsay, a spokesperson for Hochul, declined to comment on the decision but said in a statement late Friday that the governor 鈥渓ike the majority of New Yorkers鈥� still 鈥渂elieves this is not the right time to implement congestion pricing.鈥�
Groups challenging the governor鈥檚 decision, including the Riders Alliance, the Sierra Club and the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance, argue the Democrat violated the state鈥檚 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鈥檛 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鈥檚 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.
鈥淪he doesn鈥檛 have the discretion,鈥� Celli said.
But Alan Schoenfeld, a lawyer representing Hochul and the state Department of Transportation in the lawsuits, said it was a 鈥渄emonstrably false鈥� to suggest that state lawmakers intended to put the tunnel and bridge authority 鈥渦nilaterally鈥� in charge of congestion pricing.
He argued that the law also recognizes the critical role the governor鈥檚 office and state DOT play in the process.
Engoron, at points in the hearing, appeared unmoved by Schoenfeld鈥檚 arguments.
He also joked at the outset of the hearing that he drove into Manhattan for the hearing and the traffic was "terrible."
鈥淐an鈥檛 anyone do something about that?鈥� 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鈥檚 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.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a real harm here,鈥� Ladin said.
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Philip Marcelo, The Associated Press
