New Yorkers oppose congestion pricing, call on judges to block ‘rushed’ tolls: ‘Irreparable damage’

New Yorkers who oppose congestion pricing have asked a federal judge to block the $9 toll, saying it would cause “irreparable harm” – and claiming Gov. Kathy Hochul enforced the “unrated” system, before President Biden leaves office.

The group New Yorkers Against Congestion Pricing Tax — one of several engaged in litigation against the centralized tolling system for businesses — filed for an injunction on Monday, claiming Hochul is violating the law by undermining the impact of the tax on small businesses and jobs ignored and other socio-economic factors.

“The governor suspended the program because of the financial impact — because it would be too much of a burden,” the group’s attorney, Jack Lester, told The Post. “The governor is aware of the impacts but refuses to follow the law that would allow those impacts to be taken into account.”

Hochul suddenly changed course last month when she indefinitely “paused” the program, which is now set to take effect Jan. 5 — meaning the issue “now becomes an emergency,” Lester said.

The city “could be facing a financial catastrophe,” he said, with working New Yorkers such as nurses, teachers and civil servants facing a $9 fee to enter Manhattan below 60th Street and small business owners in the toll zone More extensive impacts must bear the brunt.

Hochul’s pause on the program – just weeks before it was set to begin charging $15 in the summer – should have given the governor enough time to seek more public testimony “and implement rules that considered and minimized any unnecessary impacts,” he said it reads in the new submission.

“The failure to do so and the haste to introduce congestion pricing in the waning days of the outgoing federal administration compel the issuance of an injunction,” it said.

The request for Judge Lewis Liman to intervene was filed as part of a lawsuit by the group — including Lower East Side residents and business leaders — first filed in January in federal court in Manhattan, alleging that the nation’s first toll system had been circumvented properly Environmental assessments, particularly with regard to socio-economic impacts.

The lawsuit seeks to conduct what plaintiffs believe is a proper socioeconomic review of the plan and to have Hochul carve out exceptions for “the lifeblood of the city,” Lester said, including public officials, first responders, teachers and others.

Liman has scheduled a hearing for Dec. 20 to hear arguments from New Yorkers against congestion pricing and two other groups seeking an injunction, the Trucking Association of New York and the United Federation of Teachers.

The UFT also filed a motion in its own lawsuit this week seeking summary judgment while making similar claims that the revised tolls still do not meet environmental sustainability standards required by federal law.

They are among several lawsuits seeking to clamp down on traffic congestion prices that are still winding their way through federal and state courts.

A response brief from the MTA, which appears to address the myriad of different federal lawsuits, said congestion pricing opponents failed to state a claim sufficient to obtain an injunction and rejected the UFT’s contention that the Tolls will have a negative impact on the environment.

A spokesman for Hochul said that nearly 90% of commuters to Manhattan use public transit and that the governor has provided relief by reducing tolls.

“Critics of our cheaper plan have still failed to offer their own meaningful solutions to reduce congestion, improve emergency vehicle response times and strengthen the transportation system that is so important to New York’s economic future,” said Hochul spokesman Sam Spokony told The Post.

Officials have long said they conducted comprehensive and proper environmental reviews, citing thousands of pages and a decades-long process that led to the toll.

U.S. attorneys for the Federal Transportation Department declined to comment. Attorneys representing the MTA did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

More than ten other lawsuits are still underway – and most, but not all, seek to abolish tolls.

Two lawsuits seeking to force the tolls’ implementation have agreed to drop their lawsuit – if Hochul actually turns on the cameras on January 5th.