Powerful congestion pricing supporters plan to sue Gov. Kathy Hochul over her 11th-hour pause of the first-in-the-nation tolls, according to two lawsuit drafts obtained by The Post Wednesday.
The two lawsuits — which sources said will be filed Thursday in Manhattan Supreme Court — will mark the first legal challenges to Hochul’s decision that scrapped the plans just days before $15 tolls were to be imposed on drivers entering Manhattan south of 60th Street.
One suit will be filed by the Riders Alliance and Sierra Club, while The City Club of New York will pursue the other, the drafts show.
Both lawsuits by the nonprofits contend Hochul broke the law when she unilaterally announced the indefinite pause in June.
“As powerful as a governor is, this Governor has no legal authority—none—to ‘direct’ the MTA to ‘pause’ the (Central Business District Tolling Program), much less to directly use her powers as the State’s chief executive to do so,” the City Club lawsuit states.
The state law enacting congestion pricing in 2019 exclusively gave power over congestion pricing to a sister agency to the MTA, according to the lawsuit.
“The Governor has no say in the matter. That is the law,” the draft states.
The Riders Alliance and Sierra Club suit contends Hochul also violated the state’s climate change law and constitution by depriving New Yorkers of their right to breathe clean air — a goal congestion pricing aimed to accomplish by reducing traffic in Manhattan.
Other plaintiffs could join the lawsuits, as the complaints obtained by The Post are in draft form.
Comptroller Brad Lander is scheduled to announce a “significant legal development” Thursday morning, possibly tied to the suits.
The lefty Lander, who is eyeing a mayoral run, held a news conference in June with the Riders Alliance and a coalition of congestion pricing supporters that revealed the outlines of potential legal challenges.
“This sudden and potentially illegal reversal wronged a host of New Yorkers, who have a right to what was long promised to all of New York—a world-class mass transit system that works for all,” he said at the time.
“This broad coalition of legal experts and potential plaintiffs will act to ensure the swift and inevitable implementation of congestion pricing—even if it means taking their cases to court.”
