At least eight active lawsuits still aim to stop congestion pricing amid Gov. Kathy Hochul's plan to revive the program with a reduced base fare.

The first four are in various stages, including one from New Jersey, which has yet to be ruled on. The other three in New York had most of their arguments dismissed, but the plaintiffs are not giving up.

What You Need To Know

  • There are at least eight outstanding lawsuits aiming to stop congestion pricing

  • The main argument is that the Biden administration rubber-stamped the MTA’s environmental assessment, even though it showed adverse effects on some communities

  • Most of the claims in three lawsuits have been dismissed, two of them are being amended, one is being appealed

“We just filed our opposition to the motion to dismiss yesterday and the defendants have until mid-December to respond,” Susan Lee, one of the plaintiffs in a suit brought by the group New Yorkers Against Congestion Pricing Tax, said.

The first of the other two suits in New York is led by United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew and Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella. The second is from residents of Battery Park City, both of which have been amended.

The issue for all of them, the environmental assessment.

“Their own study reveals that air pollution will get worse in Staten Island with congestion pricing,” Fossella said. “Traffic will get worse and we’ll pay a toll. So why in good conscience would anyone on Staten Island support this?”

His and the UFT’s lawsuit is now targeting the reevaluation of the plan. A second reevaluation is also underway to make sure the new plan does not deviate from what was studied in the original 4,000-page environmental assessment, which includes mitigation measures, but not for Staten Island. The Bronx does have some, like an asthma center.

“The congestion is going to be pushed to other neighborhoods,” Lee said. And I understand they have mitigation factors. But once someone has asthma, an asthma center won’t do much good for them.”

There’s also the financial impact, which concerns Mulgrew.

“Putting it on the backs of workers is just ridiculous,” Mulgrew said. “It’s so hard to live in the metropolitan area. My members clearly are struggling. We need to be paid more, there’s a teacher shortage. But we’re not the only folks.”

So could the MTA do anything to make a difference?

“They should go back in time 20, 30, 40 years and make the investments in mass transit here that they did all over the region,” Fossella said. “One of the reasons that we’re fighting this is because Staten Island does not have a subway system. We’re not integrated into the rest of the system.”

And now they will have to pay a third toll. All three lawsuits want the feds to force the MTA back to the drawing board.

“The environmental assessment is not complete,” Lee said.

The argument is that the Biden administration should have required a more thorough environmental impact statement before rubber stamping the assessment. However, a judge felt it was sufficient.

It’s unclear whether injunctions will be filed to stop the tolls as the litigation continues.