Local elected officials sign on to lawsuit filed against NYC congestion pricing program
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Most of Staten Island’s elected officials are throwing their support behind the borough president’s newest plan to oppose congestion pricing.
Last week, Borough President Vito Fossella and United Federation of Teachers (UFT) President Michael Mulgrew filed a federal lawsuit against the MTA, U.S. Department of Transportation and various other involved entities aiming to stop the implementation of New York City’s congestion pricing program, which is scheduled to take effect this spring.
Since then, several of the borough’s other elected officials have signed on as plaintiffs in the lawsuit, including Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island/South Brooklyn), State Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton (D-North Shore/South Brooklyn), State Sen. Andrew Lanza (R-Staten Island), Assemblyman Michael Tannousis (R-East Shore/South Brooklyn), Assemblyman Michael Reilly (R-South Shore), Councilman Joseph Borelli (R-South Shore), Councilwoman Kamillah Hanks (D-North Shore) and Councilman David Carr (R-Mid-Island).
The suit, which is publicly available online, claims that congestion pricing “would not eliminate air and noise pollution and traffic, but would simply shift pollution and traffic to Staten Island, the Bronx, Upper Manhattan, and Northern New Jersey.”
The borough president, who recently implored Staten Islanders to speak out against the program during the ongoing public comment period, has long argued that congestion pricing would disproportionately impact borough residents who are more reliant on cars than those in other parts of the city due to Staten Island’s lack of public transit options.
“Congestion pricing would be a three-strike loser for Staten Island residents. According to the MTA’s own study, it would be both a financial and environmental burden; not to mention it will result in more traffic for our borough. It is just plain wrong to once again ask Staten Islanders to assume such a burden when they will see little to no benefit,” Fossella said.
The project’s environmental assessment notes that implementation of congestion pricing will likely result in additional traffic and pollution on Staten Island, as vehicles divert around Manhattan to avoid the new toll.
“We know that our traffic will get worse, our air quality will get worse, and residents who must commute by car will pay an added tax to travel within their own city. We are suing because at some point, we have to say ‘enough is enough,’” the borough president added.
The lawsuit calls for the MTA to conduct a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for what would be the nation’s first congestion pricing program, arguing that the abbreviated Environmental Assessment (EA) that was conducted was “rushed and hurried,” an argument that has repeatedly been raised by local elected officials.
“Thousands of teachers and other UFT members, along with many other workers, live in places with little or no access to mass transit. They are facing dramatically rising commuting costs, and all for a traffic reduction plan whose potential effects on air quality and other issues were never seriously examined,” Mulgrew said.
The MTA has issued a statement in response to the lawsuit defending the agency’s exhaustive review process and claiming congestion pricing is needed to improve the mass transit system relied on by millions of New Yorkers.
“The environmental review process for congestion pricing involved four years of consultation with government agencies, public outreach meetings, and engagement with tens of thousands of public comments, with hundreds of pages of painstaking detail released that considered impacts on traffic, air quality, and environmental justice across the metropolitan area,” said MTA Chief, Policy & External Relations, John J. McCarthy.
“If we really want to combat ever-worsening clogged streets we must adequately fund a public transit system that will bring safer and less congested streets, cleaner air, and better transit for the vast majority of students and teachers who take mass transit to school,” he added.
STATEMENTS FROM ELECTED OFFICIALS
The local elected officials who have signed on to the lawsuit issued statements on Monday outlining their opposition to the program.
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis
“The MTA’s Congestion Pricing Plan is nothing more than a cash grab that will take more money from commuters and shift traffic from Manhattan to Staten Island and the other outer boroughs, increasing pollution in communities like ours. The MTA violated federal law by not conducting a thorough environmental impact study as required by The National Environmental Policy Act and Congestion Pricing should not go forward. We must continue using every legal and legislative tool at our disposal to stop the city, state and federal government from moving forward with this first in the nation plan that would bankrupt commuters in our city.”
State Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton
“I felt it crucial to join this bipartisan effort to stop congestion pricing from being implemented on the backs of our hardworking constituents. Congestion pricing places an unfair financial burden on our constituents while also causing heightened traffic congestion and lower air quality on the North Shore.”
State Sen. Andrew Lanza
“I join this lawsuit against the MTA as part of my continued effort to overturn the congestion pricing tax scheme which unfairly targets Staten Island families and businesses. Picking the pockets of Staten Islanders for traveling within our own city is further proof of the governor and MTA chairman’s mismanagement of the system. I thank UFT President Mulgrew and Borough President Fossella for their leadership on this lawsuit.”
Assemblyman Michael Tannousis
“Congestion pricing is not only another tax burden that will be placed on our community, but it will ultimately lead to an increase in traffic in our area. It needs to be stopped as our city continues to become an unaffordable and unmanageable place to live and raise a family.”
Assemblyman Michael Reilly
“I have long believed that this congestion pricing scheme will disproportionately punish much of our city’s working class -- from teachers and cops to those who provide the labor that drives our city’s economic engines. Everything about congestion pricing is anti-Staten Island. That’s why I am proud to join Borough President Fossella’s lawsuit to put a stop to this ridiculous effort once and for all.”
Councilman Joseph Borelli
“As Staten Islanders, we are already all too familiar with what will happen once the MTA board has unfettered authority to impose and raise tolls. The same will happen with Congestion Pricing. We have to stop it now or never.”
Councilwoman Kamillah Hanks
“I stand with my colleagues in support of this lawsuit. Introducing an additional financial burden will disproportionately tax the hard-working families on Staten Island who may have no alternative but to commute to the outer boroughs to earn a living. Not to mention, the negative environmental impact congestion pricing will have on the Staten Island, particularly in areas like Port Richmond where we know the health risks are greater.”
Councilman David Carr
“We have said all along that congestion pricing is a cash grab, but what has become clear in recent months is that it will also be an environmental and health disaster for Staten Island and her sister outer boroughs. The health effects of drivers trying to avoid this new charge are even more insidious when you consider the appropriate environmental review was not even done. Congestion pricing is an injustice of the highest order, and Staten Islanders, Brooklynites, and other New Yorkers will find their vindication in court.”
PROPOSED TOLLING STRUCTURE
Last month, the MTA Board voted to move forward with the recently recommended tolling structure that includes a $15 base toll for passenger vehicles.
The proposal has since moved into a two-month public comment period, which will include four public hearings in late February and early March to solicit additional feedback directly from residents.
If approved, the $15 toll, which would be capped at once per day, would be in effect on weekdays from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. and on weekends from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. During overnight hours, the toll would be $3.75, a 75% discount on the standard $15 toll.
Crossing credits, which were among the most-discussed topics during the Traffic Mobility Review Board’s recommendation process, would be offered to drivers entering the CBD via a directly-connecting tunnel, but would not be offered to those who enter Manhattan via the George Washington Bridge, something New Jersey officials have been tirelessly advocating for.
Drivers who enter the CBD through the Queens-Midtown, Hugh L. Carey, Holland and Lincoln tunnels would receive a $5 credit against their congestion pricing toll, bringing their effective toll rate down to $10.
As is the case at the city’s tolled crossings, trucks would be charged a higher toll than passenger vehicles because they contribute more heavily to congestion and roadway deterioration.
Under the panel’s recommendation, small trucks would be charged $24, while larger trucks would be charged $36. These vehicles would receive $12 and $20 crossing credits, respectively, if they enter the zone via one of the aforementioned tunnels.
Buses providing commuter services would be exempt from all congestion pricing tolls, though other buses would be charged $24 or $36, depending on their size.
Motorcycles would be charged $7.50, half of the standard $15 toll for passenger vehicles, to reflect the smaller impact those vehicles have on congestion.
Taxis and for-hire vehicles would be charged $1.25 and $2.50, respectively, per ride within the CBD, with both expected to pass those costs along to customers.
The panel’s recommendation includes a 50% discount for low-income drivers on the standard toll after their first 10 trips each month.
The recommendation would also fully exempt buses providing transit services and specialized government vehicles, like garbage trucks, street sweepers and snow removal trucks.
Separate from the panel’s recommendation, as required by state law, emergency vehicles and those carrying people with disabilities will be exempt from the program, with tax credits in place for residents living within the CBD and earning less than $60,000.
Additionally, drivers on the FDR Drive, West Side Highway and the sections of the Battery Park Underpass and Hugh Carey Tunnel that connect the two will not be subject to tolls, unless exiting into the CBD.
ABOUT CONGESTION PRICING
As part of the $175 billion state budget approved on April 1, 2019, the MTA’s Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (TBTA) has been authorized to establish the Central District Business Tolling Program (CBDTP), which will charge travelers a variable fee for driving into Manhattan’s Central Business District, defined as any area south of 60th Street.
Congestion pricing refers to the use of electronic tolling to charge vehicles for entering certain areas, ideally resulting in reduced traffic congestion and increased revenue for transit projects.
Revenue generated from the program will be bonded against and placed in a designated MTA “lockbox” to fund capital improvements to the city’s ailing mass transit system.
The program is expected to generate $1 billion annually, which will be used to secure $15 billion in bonds for repairs and improvements to the public transportation system.
New York officials had hoped congestion pricing would be in place already, expecting a January 2021 start date when the program was first authorized by the state in 2019.
However, various hurdles in receiving approval from the federal government have delayed implementation in recent years, pushing the expected start date to late-spring 2024.