The pushback against New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s revived congestion pricing plan is gaining volume as the Firefighter’s Union prepares to voice its opposition, and legal challenges accumulate, now totaling nine suits against the proposal. While the newly proposed $9 toll for drivers entering Manhattan south of 60th Street is a marked reduction from the initial $15 figure, discontent stirs among community members and officials from neighboring states, according to
ABC7NY
. Hochul maintains that the reduced toll “achieves our goals without putting an extra strain on those who can least afford it,” yet the legal backlash signifies a discordant reception to the approach intended to alleviate Manhattan’s traffic woes while funding improvements to the subway and public transit infrastructure.
On the legal battlefront, New Jersey has taken a firm stance with the State Attorney writing to a federal court, right before Hochul announced the new toll, pressing for a prompt decision on New Jersey’s case against the plan, as
The New York Post
reported. Governor Phil Murphy himself criticized the plan, despite the changes, still deems it an unfair burden on New Jersey commuters and believes it fails to provide meaningful environmental protection or equity. The revised rates also include a $2.25 off-peak rate for passenger cars and varied pricing changes for trucks and ride services, which has concurrently reduced the expected $15 billion revenue essential for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s transit system improvements.
There is also significant political dissent surrounding the congestion pricing initiative, with President-elect Donald Trump strongly opposing the plan. He has described it as “the most regressive tax known to womankind (man!)” and argued that it would harm New York City’s recovery, leading to an exodus of businesses. Trump has even threatened to terminate Governor Hochul’s plans during his first week in office, creating urgency for Hochul’s administration to implement the plan before his inauguration, as detailed by
ABC7NY
.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), for its part, is due to approve these new rates in an upcoming meeting, whilst stating there are no plans to raise the congestion toll for at least another three years, despite the Riders Alliance hoping for future increases to fill gaps in transit funding. The conglomerate of impending lawsuits, including those from a coalition called New Yorkers Against Congestion Pricing Tax and the Trucking Association of New York, suggests a protracted dispute over the controversial strategy, raising questions about the project’s future and its impact on the city’s transit and environmental goals, as some attorneys representing plaintiffs challenging the tolls argue that the governor’s recent actions necessitate immediate judicial intervention to address their constitutional and environmental concerns, according to their respective statements and filings obtained by news outlets including
The New York Post
.
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