Congestion pricing expected to proceed
Judge rejects NJ's request to halt toll
By: Colleen Wilson
and Thomas C. Zambito
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
NEWARK - Congestion pricing for drivers entering lower and midtown Manhattan will - cost most likely - start today. [01/05/2025
.....
After more that four hours of deliberation Friday, [01/03/2025, Judge Leo M. Gorden rejected New Jersey's request to halt the start of the controversial tolling program that will hit passenger cars entering Manhattan through the Lincoln and Holland tunnels with a $9 tool at peak hours.
..... Gorden's clarification came less than38 hours before the new toll program was scheduled to begin and four days after he released a 70-page decisions on New Jersey's suit to block the program that failed to say one way or the other about whether the program could proceed.
..... Randy Mastro, the attorney representing New Jersey, asked Gordon to consider a five-day delay of the program, which Gordon denied, but he said the Garden State could still make an appeal to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals over the weekend. [01/04-05/2025]
..... Gordon's Friday [01/03/2025] clarification came after both sides of the litigation declared victory when his initial decision was released earlier in the week [12/31/2024] causing confusion about whether the $9 toll to enter Manhattan below 60th Street would go int effect Sunday [01/05/2025] as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority planed.
..... Gordon disagreed with four of New Jersey's six central allegations made in court documents and oral arguments in April. [2024] New Jersey accused the Federal Highway Administration of violating federal law by not requiring the MTA to do
a more thorough study of the potential environmental and other impacts of the plan and arbitrarily committing money for mitigations of any impacts in New York, but not in New Jersey.
.....
The FHWA and MTA say they followed the law when submitting and approving a more than 8,000-page study of the potential impacts of congestion pricing.
..... Mastro, the attorney representing New Jersey, said in a statement: "We respectfully disagree with the trial court's decision not to halt New York's congestion pricing program before it goes into effect on Sunday. [01/05/2025]
..... The judge found that the Federal Highway Administration acted arbitrarily and capriciously in approving the MTA's plan and that insufficient environmental mitigation commitments were made to New Jersey.
..... "We will continue to fight for the people of New Jersey by seeking emergency relief from the Third Circuit Court of Apples," he said..
..... Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco said that he was "deeply disappointed" that the court has allowed the flawed congestion pricing plan to move forward, disregarding the severe environmental, public safety and economic impacts it will impose on Bergen County residents. this decision underscores the urgent need for continued legal action to hold the MTA and FHWA accountable for their failure to address the adverse effects of this scheme," Tedesco said.
..... "Bergen County must see immediate funding designed to enhance its public transpiration system, starting with the long-overdue NJ Transit extension of the Hudson Light Rail. We will not relent in our fight for fairness, transparency and the well-being of our community."
..... Gordon has requested the FHWA to revisit the financial commitment for mitigation and wanted to further examine issues surrounding considering alternative tolling plans and change made to phase in an eventual $15 toll. Final responses are due February 11. [2025]
..... It was this issue that Gordon spent most of Friday [01/03/2025] agonizing over and repeatedly called the lawyers back into chamber before finally concluding that "the harm at issue here is one of money" and therefore felt the money owed to New Jersey could be determined at a later date without causing "irreparable harm."
..... The congestion pricing path has been a long and twisted one since the New York legislature passed a law in 2019 requiring the MTA to craft a tolling program the agency's public transportation capital plan, reduce Manhattan traffic congestion and improve air quality.
..... Aside from the New Jersey lawsuit, there are numerous other lawsuits making their way through the courts to attempt to dismantle the plan.
..... And President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to end it.
..... New York Governor Kathy Hochul had paused the program less than a month before it was set to begin in June. [2024] She revived it shortly after the November [2024] election, and after that was in talks with New Jersey to try to steel the lawsuit, but the two sides couldn't come to an agreement.
..... Hochul said New York made "generous" offers, but the accused New Jersey of not negotiating in good faith.
..... A spokesperson for Governor Phil Murphy declined to comment.
..... Ahead of the clarification Friday, [01/03/2025] supporters and detractors were making their voices heard.
..... Supporters of congestion pricing staged a rally outside the Newark courthouse calling for New Jersey to end it litigation, saying it would prop up the MTA's subway, bus and commuter rail system improve the environment and reduce traffic.
..... Meanwhile, the union chapter representing EMTs and paramedics in Manhattan advices members to transfer to outer-bough stations.
..... Fire Department of New York EMTs earn just under $19 per hour and are the lowest paid of the city;s first responders.
.....
"Members are routinely assigned to midnight shifts, often compelled without notice by FDNY to work double tours, so most EMS members cannot rely on pubic transit to commute to their stations, said Oren Barzilay, president of FDNY EMS Local 2507, in a statement.