New Jersey seeks last minute halt to congestion pricing
New Jersey officials have filed a legal motion looking to halt New York’s congestion pricing plan before it can take effect Sunday.
Following federal Judge Leo Gordon’s mixed ruling Monday on a pair of lawsuits filed by New Jersey officials challenging the legality of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s toll plan, the Garden State on Wednesday night filed paperwork seeking a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction that would stop it from being implemented on Sunday, as scheduled.
A court hearing is scheduled for Friday in Newark.
In the filing, New Jersey officials cited Gordon’s summary judgment, where he opined the MTA and the Federal Highway Administration "acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner" in deciding which communities in the region were entitled to special funding because of potential negative impacts from congestion pricing.
Gordon called on federal officials to conduct a further review of the tolling plan, which will charge most vehicles $9 for driving below 60th Street in Manhattan. But the ruling did not specifically bar the MTA from going forward with its planned Sunday launch.
Gov. Kathy Hochul said after Monday's ruling that congestion pricing would start Sunday as scheduled and called the ruling a "massive win" for commuters.
At a news conference Thursday, Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said he believes New Jersey is "in a good position" following Gordon’s decision.
"There seems to be confusion back and forth, but New Jersey is going to continue to fight," Sokolich said. "We believe that congestion pricing should not go forward in light of the judge’s ruling."
New Jersey has said the tolling plan will harm some of its communities by detouring vehicles onto their roads, worsening traffic and pollution. Without a court order stopping the plan from being enacted "the MTA intends to ... make congestion pricing a fait accompli starting January 5" leaving New Jersey "and some of its most vulnerable communities subject to significant environmental impacts," according to the state's motion.
"The irreparable harm that New Jersey will suffer once the MTA flips the switch on congestion pricing is manifest," New Jersey officials wrote in their filing. "Beginning on Day One, New Jersey will experience vehicle traffic increases and poorer air quality."
MTA spokesman John McCarthy, in a statement, said, "Nobody in their right mind should take transportation advice from the New Jersey politicians who have woefully failed to manage transit in their state."
"Endless litigation over New York’s program to improve its transit and reduce traffic is the height of hypocrisy," McCarthy said.
A spokesperson for the Federal Highway Administration said the agency does not comment on pending litigation.
Natalie Hamilton, spokesperson for New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, on Thursday referred to an earlier statement by state attorney Randy Mastro, who said New Jersey "remains firmly opposed to any attempt to force through a congestion pricing proposal in the final weeks of the Biden Administration."
An injunction by the court may represent opponents’ last hope to stop congestion pricing, which has already surmounted several legal challenges.
Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.
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