Legal Fight to Revive Congestion Pricing Can Proceed, Judge Rules

A New York judge rejected a motion by lawyers for Gov. Kathy Hochul to dismiss lawsuits challenging her decision to halt the tolling program.

Nearly four months after Gov. Kathy Hochul indefinitely paused a congestion pricing toll program for New York City just before it was to take effect, a state judge on Friday ruled that the plan’s supporters could continue their court fight to revive it.

The decision followed a hearing at which lawyers for Ms. Hochul and state transportation officials argued for the dismissal of lawsuits filed by several groups seeking to reverse the governor’s decision on the basis that she lacked the authority to halt the program and had undermined the state’s environmental goals by doing so.

The judge, Justice Arthur F. Engoron of State Supreme Court in Manhattan, rejected the request.

The ruling offered a glimmer of hope to proponents of the tolling plan, a first-of-its-kind program in the United States that was meant to ease some of the nation’s worst traffic, improve air quality and raise about $1 billion a year for fixing the city’s mass transit system.

Dror Ladin, a lawyer for the plaintiffs in one of two lawsuits at issue in the hearing, praised Justice Engoron for ruling quickly in favor of Mr. Ladin’s clients.

“This whole case has been about delay, right?” he said. “It’s about the governor stopping this program that everyone knows we need. It needs to get back on track.”

The congestion-pricing program, years in the making, was to have begun on June 30, with most vehicles entering Manhattan below 60th Street subject to tolls. Passenger vehicles would have been charged up to $15 once a day, with some exceptions.

The plan faced widespread opposition, including from suburban commuters in New York and New Jersey, elected officials in both states and some New York City residents and merchants. About two-thirds of the New Yorkers who responded to a Siena College survey in April were opposed to congestion pricing.

Some critics said the tolls would impose an unfair burden on those who relied on cars to travel to and from work. Others raised concerns about the environmental impact on neighborhoods that might see an increase in traffic as drivers sought to avoid the tolls.

“Traffic will get worse, air pollution will get worse, and we will have to pay more,” Vito J. Fossella, the Staten Island borough president, said. “So then the question is, well, what’s in it for us? And the answer is: Nothing.”

Ms. Hochul, acknowledging public opposition to the plan and saying she believed it could harm New York’s economy, announced on June 5 that she was halting congestion pricing indefinitely.

The program’s supporters assailed the move. They said it would cripple plans by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the state agency that operates the city’s subway and buses, to make urgent repairs to the transit system. The $1 billion in annual toll revenue was supposed to be used to secure $15 billion in financing to pay for those repairs.

Several groups challenged the governor’s decision by suing her and state transportation officials, adding to the welter of litigation over congestion pricing that began more than a year ago with opponents trying kill the program before it began.

One of the lawsuits being argued over on Friday was filed by the Riders Alliance, a transit advocacy organization, and two environmental groups, the Sierra Club and the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance.

Danny Pearlstein, a spokesman for the Riders Alliance, said before the hearing that “riders never wanted to sue the governor.”

“But,” he added, “we need to use every tool in our toolbox to make sure that we have the transit funding that we need and that we achieve the other promises of congestion pricing.”

The second suit was filed by the City Club, an influential civic organization, whose president, Layla Law-Gisiko, said the group believed that “the governor has overstepped her boundaries” in halting the program.

On Thursday, Kara Fesolovich, a spokeswoman for Ms. Hochul, declined to comment on the lawsuits but said that “like the majority of New Yorkers, Governor Hochul believes this is not the right time to implement congestion pricing.”

Janno Lieber, the M.T.A.’s chief executive, said at a news conference on Wednesday that the authority was prepared to carry out congestion pricing. He declined to offer an opinion about the legality of Ms. Hochul’s decision to halt the program. He has previously said he believes that the governor would reinstate it.

The Transport Workers Union, which represents M.T.A. workers, sued separately over cuts to bus service that the union attributed to the congestion pricing halt. A judge granted the union a temporary restraining order that forced the M.T.A. to restore service. A hearing in the case has been scheduled for Oct. 10.

Congestion Pricing in New York City

• Pressing Hochul: Weeks after Gov. Kathy Hochul abruptly pulled the plug on congestion pricing, state lawmakers have privately begun to persuade her to revive the tolls, but make them less expensive.
• New Lawsuits: A coalition of supporters of congestion pricing filed two lawsuits that demand that Gov. Kathy Hochul allow the tolling program to move forward, arguing that she exceeded her authority when she indefinitely suspended the start of congestion pricing.
• The Toll That Wasn't: We counted 22,252 cars to see how much revenue New York City could have generated if it had gone forward with congestion pricing.
• M.T.A. Fallout: After Hochul’s pause, the M.T.A. cut $16.5 billion worth of planned upgrades to the city’s vast transit network, causing fears of a crisis like the 2017 “Summer of Hell.” Here are some of the projects that were shelved.
• Obstacles to Change: Congestion pricing was the latest ambitious proposal that couldn’t navigate New York’s rocky political terrain. Here’s why it’s a tall order to achieve substantial change in the city.