A federal judge in Manhattan grilled opponents of congestion pricing on Friday, signaling skepticism of their arguments that the first-in-the-nation tolling program is just a “cash grab” that requires further federal review.
Judge Lewis Liman is presiding over three lawsuits brought against the MTA and federal Highway Administration over the plan to toll drivers a base fare of $15 to travel south of 60th Street. The MTA is planning to turn on the tolls on June 30. But the Manhattan suits, as well as a separate set of legal challenges in New Jersey federal court, seek to stall congestion pricing by forcing further analysis of the program’s effect on the Garden State and other communities.
During lengthy oral arguments, Liman pushed back on the oft-repeated claim that congestion pricing is merely a MTA “cash grab” meant to cover up the agency’s financial mismanagement.
“Is the sale of a post office a cash grab?” Liman wondered. “There are tolls on the highway all the time for revenue purposes.”
By law, revenue from congestion pricing will fund improvements to public transit. The MTA anticipates spending $15 billion in bond proceeds tied to the tolls on accessibility projects, new train cars and other initiatives.
The congestion pricing opponents involved in the Manhattan lawsuits include the city teachers union, an assortment of outer-borough elected officials, a coalition of city residents, and a Battery Park City holiday songwriter. The suits make similar arguments that the federal government acted as a rubber stamp for the tolls, and did not adequately consider how changing traffic patterns under the program will affect communities near Manhattan. The MTA counters it will spend money to remediate the shifts in traffic and that the impacts of the program have been exhaustively studied and the subject of numerous public hearings.
Liman questioned Zack Bannon, a lawyer for the federal government, about the environmental assessment process.
The judge asked whether the government needed to conduct a new analysis each time a toll is changed on a highway, or a lane is closed. Bannon replied it did not, adding that the federal review of congestion pricing met legal standards.
Elizabeth Chan, Battery Park City’s self-proclaimed “Queen of Christmas” songs, grumbled as she sat in the audience, saying “this is just gaslighting.”
Chan filed a suit last year arguing the tolls would result in slower ambulance response times to her neighborhood because traffic will surge on the West Side Highway, which is exempt from the congestion charge.
The federal government is still conducting a final analysis of congestion pricing’s toll structure. Bannon did not say when the review would be complete, but told the court it would conclude before the MTA hopes to begin charging drivers on June 30.
The federal judge in the New Jersey cases has said he also aims to rule ahead of that deadline. Liman did not indicate when he would issue a ruling.
