Second lawsuit filed to block New York City’s congestion pricing plan

The Fort Lee mayor filed a federal class-action lawsuit Wednesday against New York City and federal transportation officials over the city’s “commuter-crushing, cancer-causing” congestion-pricing plan, which aims to curb traffic by hiking tolls on lower Manhattan’s busiest roads.

Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich and Richard Galler, a Fort Lee resident with asthma and a regular commuter into the city, accuse the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of forging ahead with the controversial plan despite the authority’s own finding that it will subject Bergen County to more pollution and traffic from drivers trying to dodge the tolling zone.

“Because of this congestion pricing initiative, we run the risk of adding an additional 15, 20, 25% additional traffic to the already overburdened streets of the borough of Fort Lee. To ask us to impact and to absorb that additional traffic is going to all but destroy the quality of lives that we’ve managed to accumulate here in Fort Lee,” Sokolich said. “With that comes pollutants, filth, dirt, atmosphere. It impacts everybody in my borough, and it impacts everybody in the region.”

Besides the MTA and federal highway officials, the lawsuit names the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, which was tasked with establishing the congestion pricing plan; the Traffic Mobility Review Board, the authority-appointed board that will set congestion toll prices; and associated individuals as defendants.

Sokolich announced details of the lawsuit on Wednesday near the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee with Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-05), a vocal critic of congestion pricing.

The Fort Lee lawsuit comes three months after the state of New Jersey sued the federal government to block the plan, which could cost a full-time commuter who drives anywhere south of Central Park an extra $23 a day, or nearly $6,000 a year (with rates likely higher for commercial drivers).

John J. McCarthy, the MTA’s policy and external relations chief, said the lawsuits will not affect the agency’s plans to move ahead with congestion pricing, which is expected to generate $15 billion for public transit improvements in New York City.

“It’s Gottheimer Groundhog Day and — shocker — he wants to send more traffic and more pollution to New York,” McCarthy said in a statement. “News flash: Manhattan is already full of vehicles, and we don’t need more carbon emissions. So congestion pricing needs to move forward for less traffic, safer streets, cleaner air and huge improvements to mass transit.”

Gottheimer called congestion pricing MTA’s “giant cash grab” to alleviate its long-brewing budget woes. The agency lost countless riders and revenue during the pandemic and has struggled to combat fare-skippers.

Gottheimer pointed to $130 million the MTA plans to spend on air filtration units and other pollution-mitigation measures — in the Bronx.

“They’ve already admitted that it’s going to cause asthma for the children. That’s why they’re giving all this money to the Bronx, not a penny for Jersey,” Gottheimer said. “Not a nickel to Jersey, not a nickel for environmental impacts or health impacts for our families, not a nickel to mitigate traffic. You think they’d be worried about our children? Apparently not. They’re moving ahead and instead spreading their hush money to buy off the Bronx and elsewhere because they know what they’re doing is wrong.”

Other officials stood beside Sokolich and Gottheimer in support of the latest lawsuit, including state Assembly members Lisa Swain, Shama Haider, and Chris Tully, all Democrats who represent Bergen County and are seeking reelection next week.

“As our commuters cross state lines to fulfill their livelihoods, they will soon be greeted with exorbitant congestion fees that drain their hard-earned income and flow entirely into the local economies of another state,” Swain said. “New Jersey drivers are paying more, and residents of towns across Bergen County will be experiencing higher levels of traffic congestion and harmful vehicle emissions than ever before. Putting our clean air in the crossfire is absolutely unacceptable.”

The Federal Highway Authority gave the congestion pricing plan the green light in June, issuing a finding of “no significant impact.” Contractors had 10 months from that approval to develop, test, and install new tolling equipment, and the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority has to approve a tolling structure, according to the Fort Lee lawsuit.

Sokolich and Galler are asking a judge to stop the plan, overturn the Federal Highway Authority’s June approval that cleared the way for the congestion pricing plan, and order a new environmental impact study.

But if the plan proceeds, they want a judge to order damages for the “increased costs, congestion inconvenience, pollution and physical harm” congestion pricing could cause and require medical monitoring, under which an independent panel of scientists would assess the environmental impact of congestion pricing and the lawsuit’s defendants would cover the costs of medical treatment.