New York City Comptroller Brad Lander is revolting against Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) for the “indefinite delay” of her congestion pricing plan, calling it a “potentially illegal reversal.”
In a press release, Lander, along with numerous others including Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), railed against Hochul for her actions. Lander and Nadler are part of a growing outcry against the governor’s delay of the program, which was supposed to go into effect later this month. Lander is the city’s chief financial officer.
“Governor Hochul took a disastrously wrong turn: halting the implementation of congestion pricing harms New York City’s goals of reducing emission and improving air quality, and leaves a $15 billion hole in the MTA’s Capital Program, funding that is essential to update decades-old signal technology that causes train delays and install elevators that will enable the MTA to reach its legally-mandated 95% accessibility goal by 2055,” Lander said.
“This sudden and potentially illegal reversal wronged a host of New Yorkers, who have a right to what was long promised to all of New York—a world-class mass transit system that works for all,” Lander continued. “This broad coalition of legal experts and potential plaintiffs will act to ensure the swift and inevitable implementation of congestion pricing—even if it means taking their cases to court. We’re here to steer our shared future back on track.”
The comptroller said he is filing lawsuits with a coalition of “legal experts and impacted parties” on the basis of at least five different statutes, including several climate-related laws and the Americans with Disabilities Act. The toll would have contributed funds to the Metropolitan Transit Authority.
With congestion pricing’s implementation up in the air, state lawmakers have been looking for other ways to fund the MTA, such as speeding up the granting of casino licenses, which is expected to fetch billions for the city. The toll was projected to reel in $1 billion a year for the MTA. But Nadler says Hochul can’t produce “a plan B” to fund the MTA.
“Governor Hochul’s ‘indefinite pause’ of congestion pricing is unlawful as she cannot simply ignore the will of the State Legislature after the tolling plan was signed into law in 2019,” Nadler said.
“Congestion pricing has been years in the making—and I am fully prepared to take this fight to the courts to see to it that Congestion Pricing is implemented as intended by the Legislature,” Nadler continued. “There is so much at stake: ADA accessibility upgrades, signal system modernization, eliminating transit deserts with Penn Access and the 2nd Avenue Subway Extension, faster emergency response times, cleaner air and safer streets. Governor Hochul cannot produce a plan B to fund these essential capital programs which will be abandoned if Congestion Pricing does not proceed.”
A Columbia Law School professor cited in the press release agreed with Lander’s assessment of the delay, saying, “It is illegal for the Governor to unilaterally cancel it.”
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Some cheered the toll’s delay, citing Hochul’s inflation justification as reason enough to can it. Passenger vehicles entering parts of Manhattan would’ve been charged $15 in peak hours, and larger vehicles $24 to $36.
Hochul has largely been silent about the outcry, though she acknowledged the “level of concern,” even while the MTA chairman said the authority will have to “shrink” the 2020 to 2024 MTA capital program.