NYC Comptroller Lander & Coalition of Advocates and Litigators Announce Two New Lawsuits Challenging Gov. Hochul’s Indefinite Pause of Congestion Pricing

New York, NY – Today, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander and a broad coalition of lawyers, plaintiffs, and advocates announced two new lawsuits challenging Governor Kathy Hochul’s indefinite pause of New York City’s congestion pricing plan just three weeks before its implementation date and seeking to compel its implementation as required by law.

The first lawsuit, City Club of New York et al v. Hochul, led by the civil rights firm Emery Celli Abady Brinckerhoff Ward & Maazel LLP, challenges Governor Hochul’s authority to single-handedly block implementation of the 2019 MTA Reform and Traffic Mobility Act, passed by both houses of the State Legislature and signed into law by the then-governor, which mandated the design, development, building, and operation of the Central Business District Tolling Program, commonly known as congestion pricing.

The second lawsuit, Riders Alliance v. Hochul, led by the environmental litigation nonprofit Earthjustice, challenges Governor Hochul’s decision on the basis of New York State’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which requires New York to reduce economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions 40 percent by 2030, and requires state officials to act in a manner consistent with mandated targets. This lawsuit also alleges that the Governor’s decision violates the state constitutional right to clean air and a healthy environment that was added to the state constitution in 2021 by an overwhelming 70% of voters.

The suits argue that the Governor’s failure to enact congestion pricing violates both laws, and the success of either will result in the implementation of New York City’s congestion pricing plan.

“When Governor Hochul halted congestion pricing last month, she singlehandedly deprived millions of subway and bus riders of $15 billion worth of transit improvements like more frequent trains, new subway lines, faster buses and greater accessibility — and she also violated two state laws and the state constitution,” said Comptroller Brad Lander. “If her action is not reversed, hard-working New Yorkers on their way home after a long day, will experience increasing service cuts, gridlock, air quality alerts, and inaccessible stations. Thanks to these two lawsuits being brought by Riders Alliance, Sierra Club, the City Club, New York City Environmental Justice Alliance, and our broader coalition, New Yorkers have a fighting chance at the world-class public transit, reduced traffic, and better air quality we all deserve.”

Details of each suit follow:

City Club of New York et al v. Hochul 

• Petitioners: The City Club of New York, residents of the Central Business District (to be named)
• Counsel: Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel
• Respondents: Governor Kathy Hochul, New York State Department of Transportation (DOT), New York State DOT Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez, Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)
• Legal basis: Central Business District Tolling Program (CBDTP) (NY Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1704): Article 78 of NY Civil Practice Law and Rules provides an avenue to challenge the states failure to implement congestion pricing, as required by legislation passed in 2019.

• Filing: View here.

Riders Alliance v. Hochul 

• Petitioners: Riders Alliance, Sierra Club, New York City Environmental Justice Alliance
• Counsel: Earthjustice
• Respondents: Governor Hochul, New York State DOT, New York State DOT Commissioner Dominguez, MTA
• Legal basis: Section 7.2 of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA): The Governor and New York State agencies, including NYS Department of Transportation and the MTA, are required to act in a manner consistent with statewide greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals. This lawsuit is also based on the environmental rights provision of the New York State Constitution’s Bill of Rights.

• Filing: View here.

New York City’s congestion pricing plan was set to begin on June 30 and funnel an estimated $1 billion to the MTA annually — for projects like extending the Second Avenue Subway to West Harlem, installing elevators and accessibility improvements at stations that don’t have them, upgrading outdated signals, and keeping the system in a state of good repair.

After years of planning, extensive public testimony, approvals from multiple layers of government, and hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure spending reliant on the funds from congestion pricing, Governor Hochul announced an “indefinite pause” to New York City’s congestion pricing plan just three weeks before its implementation date. The failure to implement congestion pricing has created a $15 billion shortfall in the MTA’s 2020-2024 Capital Program. The failure to implement congestion pricing will forgo critical benefits to New York City’s climate and transportation goals such as cutting carbon emissions, improving air quality, making mass transit more accessible and efficient, and reducing traffic injuries and fatalities region wide. In response to the Governor’s about-face, Comptroller Lander worked with advocates to assemble a coalition of legal experts and impacted parties to challenge the Governor’s last-minute reversal in court.

“Subway and bus riders won congestion pricing and we’re not giving up our victory just because Governor Hochul broke the law,” said Betsy Plum, Executive Director of the Riders Alliance. “After years of working closely with the governor and MTA to start the program, her betrayal of public transit left us no choice but to go to court. We’re filing today’s case because congestion pricing will be a win-win-win for all New Yorkers, with better transit, freer flowing traffic and the quality of the air we breathe. We’re grateful for the good company and hard work of our fellow plaintiffs, our attorneys at Earthjustice, Comptroller Lander and his team.”

“Governor Hochul’s actions blocking congestion pricing are plainly unlawful and an egregious example of executive overreach,” said Attorney Andrew G Celli, Jr. “This lawsuit upholds the law as written and seeks to ensure that all public officials act within the scope of their authority. No one, not even a governor, is above the law.”

“We have assembled a first-rate legal team,” said Michael Gerrard, Andrew Sabin Professor of Professional Practice at Columbia Law School. “The closer we all looked at Governor Hochul’s action blocking congestion pricing, the clearer it became that it was not only environmentally and economically destructive, it was also legally indefensible.”

“The governor bucking the command of the Legislature does not serve New Yorkers who need better air, subways and traffic,” said Attorney Richard Emery. “This case will reorder the proper power sharing between the separate branches of state government.”

“New Yorkers need air we can breathe, a transit system that works for all of us, and a planet that’s safe for our children,” said Dror Ladin, Senior Attorney at Earthjustice. “Last weekend we broke the record for the hottest day in history, and congestion pricing is essential for reducing the fumes flowing out of our bumper-to-bumper traffic before our city becomes unlivable. The law and our state constitution are clear that the Governor can’t just decide to take it all away.”

“The indefinite postponement of New York City’s congestion pricing program jeopardizes critical infrastructure projects and threatens the city’s future,” said Layla Law-Gisiko, President of the City Club of New York. “This decision will directly impact the MTA’s ability to secure funding for essential upgrades, including the modernization of subway signals, the purchase of new buses, and the implementation of vital accessibility improvements across the transit system. These are not mere enhancements; they are lifelines ensuring safe, efficient, and equitable transportation for millions of New Yorkers. Delaying congestion pricing undermines our commitment to building a resilient and sustainable city, hindering progress towards a more equitable and efficient transportation future.”

“New York City suffers from the world’s worst traffic congestion, which further exacerbates transportation emissions—the City’s second largest source of emissions after buildings,” said Wayne Arden, Vice Chair of the NYC Sierra Club Group’s Executive Committee. “London, Milan, Singapore, and Stockholm have implemented congestion pricing and have greatly benefited from lower emissions, increased funding for mass transit, and fewer traffic accidents and resulting injuries. The Governor does not have the power to cancel congestion pricing and the Sierra Club is proud to be one of many groups challenging this political misstep. Our legal duty to address the enormity of the climate crisis requires restoration of the congestion pricing program without delay.”

“I wholeheartedly support today’s announcement of two lawsuits to implement congestion pricing after Governor Kathy Hochul’s disastrous decision to “indefinitely pause” the plan last month,” said Congressman Jerry Nadler (NY-12). “Congestion pricing is the law of the land, and I firmly believe that Governor Hochul’s decision to ignore the will of the State Legislature after the tolling plan was signed into law in 2019 is unlawful. The consequences of the Governor’s action have already proved to be catastrophic for New Yorkers, the MTA, and transit riders. In the twenty-six days since congestion pricing was supposed to be implemented, it’s estimated that nearly four million cars emitting 174,000 tons of carbon emissions have not been removed from the congestion zone. Additionally, the MTA’s balanced budget through 2027 is likely shattered, and it has been forced to cancel $16.5 billion in capital improvement projects that would have created nearly 100,000 jobs, including ADA accessibility upgrades and signal system modernization. Finally, federal funding for the 2nd Avenue Subway Extension and Penn Station Access is now at risk. The implementation of congestion pricing is our only option to right these wrongs. While I look forward to these lawsuits being successful, I urge Governor Hochul to fulfill her obligation to state law and implement congestion pricing immediately.”

“New York City’s congestion pricing plan will make our air cleaner, our streets safer, and our transit more accessible,” said Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso. “Delaying the congestion pricing plan not only delays these essential public health and safety benefits – it leaves an unconscionable hole in the MTA capital budget that will put at risk everything from essential accessibility upgrades for our transit system to transformative projects like the Interborough Express. I’m grateful to Comptroller Lander and the coalition of advocates who have joined together to reject the State’s unilateral action against the well-being of our city and people.”

“It’s been 50 days since the Governor unilaterally delayed the funding of necessary MTA projects like infrastructure improvements and ADA compliant upgrades,” said State Senator Kristen Gonzalez (District 59). “New Yorkers deserve clean air and efficient, accessible public transportation. I thank the comptroller and his team, as well as the countless New Yorkers who have rallied around the MTA for holding our governor accountable.”

“I fully support taking legal action to dislodge the Governor’s socially detrimental, counter-democratic, and legally dubious presumption to suspend New York’s longstanding, statutorily mandated congestion pricing plan,” said New York State Senator Julia Salazar (District 18). “The vital benefits of congestion pricing are clear and compelling. From reducing respiratory ailments and carbon emissions, to ensuring first responders can arrive on the scene in time to save lives, to making the MTA reliable and accessible, the policy’s promise speaks for itself, and that’s been just as true where it’s been put into practice, whether in London or Milan, Singapore or Stockholm. That’s why I’ve supported New York’s congestion pricing plan since taking office in 2019, it’s why I refused to be complicit in the Governor’s effort to put the plan on ice, and it’s why I stand alongside Comptroller Lander and fellow partners as they go to court to put this commonsense policy back in motion.”

“Many thanks to City Comptroller Brad Lander and plaintiffs in the announced suits for fighting to reverse Governor Hochul’s disastrous abandonment of New York’s congestion pricing program and its support for critical MTA transit repair and improvement work,” said Jon Orcutt, Advocacy Director for Bike New York.

“While it’s only been a month, we’ve already seen the effects of Governor Hochul’s congestion pricing ‘pause’: orders for vital new train cars delayed, subway signal upgrades deferred, legally mandated accessibility upgrades cancelled, major subway expansions put in jeopardy—and the stability of the entire MTA capital budget thrown into question,” said Blair Lorenzo, Executive Director of the Effective Transit Alliance. “All the while, traffic in Manhattan continues to get worse, creating more pollution, slowing emergency vehicles, and making the cost of doing business in the city higher. Congestion pricing is New York State law, and the MTA was created as an independent organization specifically in order to protect it from this kind of political meddling. It is time to ensure that the Governor follows the law and does what’s right for everyone in greater New York: starting congestion pricing.”

“Governor Hochul’s eleventh-hour decision to pause congestion pricing blindsided both New Yorkers and climate advocates across the country,” said Justin Balik, State Program Director for Evergreen Action. “New York was prepared—after years of planning, negotiation, and due diligence—to effectively implement this nation-leading program. But now, weeks after congestion pricing was set to go into effect, the program remains in limbo, along with the governor’s climate legacy. But there’s still time to get New York back on track. We’re proud to stand alongside the coalition taking this step today to hold the Hochul administration accountable, get congestion pricing back on track, and protect New York’s position as a national climate leader.”

“As a member of Families for Safe Streets, I know how transformative congestion pricing will be for New York by reducing traffic crashes,” said Kirby Kersels, Families for Safe Streets member. “My partner, Emilie Gossiaux, was the victim of traffic violence in 2010, when she was run over while riding her bike to work. Each day that Governor Hochul keeps the cameras off means more cars on our streets, more injuries, more deaths, and more pollution. I’m proud to stand with Comptroller Lander in support of this legal action. Enough is enough! New York needs congestion pricing, and we need it now.”

“Mobilization for Justice is strongly supportive of the lawsuits being filed today to force New York State to resume congestion pricing as quickly as possible,” said Mike Litrownik, Supervising Attorney for Special Litigation at Mobilization for Justice. “Governor Hochul’s 11th hour decision to pause the program is already having a devastating impact on New Yorkers with disabilities who need the long-promised public transit accessibility improvements that were to be funded by congestion pricing.”

“The Partnership for New York City advocated for congestion relief on the terms enacted into law in 2019,” said Kathryn Wylde, President & CEO, Partnership for New York City. “We support legal action to move forward with tolling the central business districts pursuant to that law.”

“The decision to indefinitely pause New York City’s congestion pricing program is already having negative consequences across the region and the nation – billions of dollars of cutbacks to the city’s transit lifeline; purchases of modern rail cars and electric buses for Metro North and the Long Island Rail Road scrapped; thousands of jobs building transit equipment at risk in upstate New York; and adoption of congestion pricing in cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco stalled,” said Eric A. Goldstein, Senior Attorney and New York City Environment Director at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). “But as former U.S. Supreme Court Justice William Brennan once said: ‘Ultimately, enforcement of the law is what really counts.’ So we are especially grateful to Comptroller Brad Lander for assembling a super-group of lawyers to ensure that the laws of the State of New York requiring implementation of congestion pricing and protection of our environment will be followed.”

“Today’s announcement is significant for transit, climate, and housing policy” said Annemarie Gray, Executive Director of Open New York. “The keys to a well-run city are running good transit and building homes near it, and the Governor’s decision jeopardizes both of those goals. Good transportation policy is essential to achieving a more affordable New York. We cannot afford to see our city and state’s future choked by congestion and pollution. Open New York is excited to continue the fight for congestion pricing, a generationally significant policy with the potential to support better transit and more homes throughout the region.”

“Almost a month has passed since congestion pricing was scheduled to start, leaving tens of millions of dollars on the table and a hundred thousand jobs at risk, not to mention more traffic spewing more toxins into our air and increasing costs of deferred projects,” said Lisa Daglian, Executive Director, and Gerard Brigmann, Chair, of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA (PCAC). “We should be looking forward to more accessible subway and LIRR stations, a more resilient Metro-North Hudson line, hundreds more electric buses, upgrades to antiquated signals, and riding the Second Avenue Subway to 125th Street. Instead, we’re talking about a lawsuit to enforce the law of the land: Congestion Pricing. Governor Hochul, follow the law and unpause the pause. We can’t afford to wait.”

“By breaking the congestion pricing law, Governor Hochul – who claims to be for affordability, jobs and lawful governance – is vaporizing $15 billion of refurbishments to MTA subways, buses and commuter rail,” said Rachael Fauss, Senior Policy Advisor for Reinvent Albany. “This puts 100,000 well-paying New York State jobs on the chopping block, while sticking transit riders with deteriorating equipment, misery and delays, and leaves New York City mired in time-wasting, economy-draining traffic congestion. We welcome these lawsuits and hope they result in congestion pricing getting turned on soon.”

“Since Governor Hochul hasn’t come to her senses about her misguided and likely illegal congestion pricing “pause” — which has left the MTA’s capital plan in shambles and Manhattan’s streets in worst-ever gridlock — New Yorkers who rely on public transit and who care about mobility left with no choice but to seek redress through the courts,” said Eric McClure, Executive Director of StreetsPAC. “We’re grateful to Comptroller Lander for assembling a top-notch legal team to pursue every available avenue to put congestion pricing back on track at the earliest possible juncture.”

“Congestion pricing is the law of the land, and Governor Hochul can’t just ignore it,” said Elizabeth Adams, interim Co-Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives. “We’re honored to join the comptroller and this coalition of like-minded groups in support of legal action to begin congestion pricing. New Yorkers deserve faster buses, safer streets, fewer cars, and more space for all of us to thrive. We will keep fighting until the cameras turn on.”

“Governor Kathy Hochul’s reversal on Congestion Pricing is a violation of her responsibility to the largest transit agency in this country. It cannot be overstated,” said Renae Reynolds, Executive Director of Tri-State Transportation Campaign. “Congestion pricing is a landmark policy for transportation and the urban environment. The Governor’s surreptitious disruption of a legal process is receiving rightful ire. As advocates we are outraged, and beyond disappointed. Governor Hochul should have been our environmental champion. Instead, she folded to pressure from ill informed special interests at a time when our transit riders, environmental justice communities and quite frankly the Country needed her to be a standard bearer. We will do everything within our power to hold her accountable.”

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