SUFFOLK CLOSEUP: Congestion Pricing

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman

The congestion pricing plan is back but will the plan stick—will it actually be reality?

The board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority last week voted 12-to-1 to approve a $9 toll fee during peak hours for drivers of cars entering Manhattan below 60^th Street starting January 5^th,. The toll would be about 50% higher for drivers without E-ZPass. And higher for trucks. The $9 is down from the $15 that New York Governor Kathy Hochul initially proposed. 

Then, in June, just weeks before the first-in-the-nation plan was to take effect, Hochul announced what she termed a “pause.” The impact of the plan on Democratic chances in the November election—including on Long Island—were reported as a main reason for the hold.

Still, there are possible roadblocks ahead: several lawsuits, and also Donald Trump after he becomes president on January 20^th.

The lawsuits include one in which Jack Lester, with an office in East Hampton, is the attorney. He is representing 49 plaintiffs including seven members of the New York City Council, State Assemblyman Michael Novakhov of Brooklyn, and a group New Yorkers Against Congestion Pricing Tax. 

As to Trump, he declared in May on his Truth Social website: “’Congestion Pricing’ is a disaster for NYC. I stopped it for years at the Federal level, but Crooked Joe railroaded it through. A massive business killer and tax on New Yorkers, and anyone going into Manhattan. I will TERMINATE Congestion Pricing in my FIRST WEEK back in Office!!! Manhattan is looking for business, not looking to kill business!”

Central in the Lester lawsuit is the Green Amendment to the New York State Constitution. It was made law by New York voters—by a 70% plurality—in a statewide referendum in the 2021 election.

The lawsuit, brought last week in U.S. District Court in the Southern District, names as defendants: two administrators of the Federal Highway Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation; the MTA; Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority; New York State Department of Transportation; New York City Department of Transportation; and Traffic Mobility Review Board.

It says the Green Amendment “asserts the constitutional rights of Plaintiffs to clean air and a healthy environment.” It charges: “Defendants are breaching the Green Amendment by virtue of the unexamined deleterious impacts that Plaintiffs will experience due to the Defendant’s failure to evaluate and mitigate the significant adverse environmental consequences of Congestion Pricing upon Plaintiff residents of environmental justice communities.”

A definition online of environmental justice is “the fair treatment of all people, regardless of their race, color, national origin, income, or other factors, in the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.”

The “Green Amendment,” says the lawsuit, “mandates the Plaintiffs residing in environmental justice communities, including the South Bronx [and] East Harlem…already burdened by pre-existing air pollution, congestion, asthma and other chronic diseases, be protected from the significant negative environmental impacts that will be caused by traffic diversions caused by the implementation of Congestion Pricing.”

In an interview, Lester also pointed to “the big case coming out of New Jersey” in which Governor Phil Murphy and others are charging that the congestion pricing plan violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. This requires, said Lester, that “only the federal government can regulate interstate commerce” and thus by the plan “putting a toll on New Jersey commuters without their receiving a benefit,” it would be illegal. 

Meanwhile, there is political action. Last week, a group of Long Island town supervisors held a press conference attacking the plan. Among the supervisors was Dan Panico of Brookhaven Town saying the plan involved a “regressive tax” and did not address the “root cause” of the MTA’s problems. 

The plan as originally proposed by Hochul was designed to raise a billion dollars a year for mass transit including money for the MTA and Long Island Rail Road.

The single negative vote on the MTA board last week came from David Mack of Kings Point in Nassau County. He said the MTA could find other ways of raising revenue including by imposing tolls on now free crossings, and that congestion could be reduced by better enforcement of traffic laws including double-parking and trucks unloading cargo in Manhattan.

Although the basic toll under the revised plan has been reduced to $9, there would be a gradual increase until in 2030 it reaches the original charge advanced by Hochul of $15.

As to how Trump as president could eliminate the congestion pricing plan, Newsday in an analysis last week by its transportation correspondent, Alfonso A. Castillo, reported: “Even if Trump wanted to nix congestion pricing, it’s not clear how—or if—he could, once President Joe Biden’s Department of Transportation issues final approval. Instead, opponents of the plan have urged Trump to withhold federal transportation funding to pressure New York to drop the plan.”

He quoted Congressman Anthony D’Esposito of Island Park in Nassau County, a plan opponent who was defeated in the November election, as saying the Trump administration is “going to explore all options which include the power of the purse….I think that President Trump has the opportunity to really take a look at all the federal funding that’s going to the MTA. And those funds could very well change if congestion pricing is implemented.”

Castillo noted, “Although much of the federal money is driven by formulas, there are also grants for major infrastructure projects that are awarded at the discretion of transportation officials.”

But, he reported, “Larry Penner, a transportation advocate who previously worked for the Federal Transit Administration, questioned whether Trump would have any incentive to go that route, given that Republican members of Congress from New York benefit from federal transportation funding. Also, because of how unpopular congestion pricing is in many parts of New York—including on Long Island—Penner said it may make more political sense to leave congestion pricing in place and allow Republicans to use it against Democrats in future elections, including for the governor’s job in 2026.” 

He quoted Penner as saying: “They can say two years from now, ‘See, I told you so.’”  

Julie Tighe, president of the New York League of Conservation Voters, declared last week: “New Yorkers deserve less traffic, cleaner air, and better transit, and congestion pricing will deliver all of that. Congestion pricing will reduce traffic, lessen air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, and invest billions of dollars in mass transit that will benefit commuters across the region. After almost a six month pause to the program, we are thankful this policy will finally begin so that we can see immediate improvements. We thank Governor Hochul for realizing the importance of and initializing this program….The decision to move forward with congestion pricing makes New York a national leader in the fight against climate change and we are fortunate to have such bold climate leadership in the Executive Chamber.”

Karl Grossman is a veteran investigative reporter and columnist, the winner of numerous awards for his work and a member of the L.I. Journalism Hall of Fame. He is a professor of journalism at SUNY at Old Westbury and the author of six books.