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By Jesse Levine

Public health and legal experts at Columbia and Manhattan local officials have expressed concern over New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s snap June 5 decision to direct the MTA to “indefinitely pause” New York City’s congestion pricing plan, previously scheduled to go into effect on June 30 and fund $15 billion in capital improvements to the MTA network.

The plan established a “Congestion Relief Zone,” which was set to span from 60th Street to the southern tip of Manhattan, excluding the Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive, West Side Highway/Route 9A, and the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel. Vehicles entering the Congestion Relief Zone would be tolled an amount dependent on the type of vehicle, time of day, whether any crossing credits were applied, and the payment method.

For example, the toll for a passenger or small commercial vehicle entering the zone during peak period—from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends—would be $15.

The money that would have been generated by the congestion pricing fund was set to fund $15 billion in capital improvements to the MTA network, which, as of June 20, has $46.7 billion of outstanding debt. Projects that were eligible to be funded at least in part from congestion pricing revenue included increasing accessibility throughout transit systems, bus electrification, elevator and escalator replacements, and the extension of the Second Avenue subway into East Harlem.

There are no ADA-accessible 1 train stations in Manhattan between 96th Street and Dyckman Street. Community activists in Morningside Heights and West Harlem have put pressure on Columbia for years to contribute to accessibility upgrades at the 125th Street subway station.

While the 125th Street station was not included among the stations scheduled to receive accessibility upgrades with the funds brought in by the revenue generated from the congestion pricing plan, the 137th Street station was slated to receive a new elevator, according to the MTA’s website. The upgrades to the 137th Street station were originally scheduled to finish by December 2023 but were pushed back until March 2025.

Hochul cited rising prices in the state for goods and services, such as groceries and child care, as well as changing circumstances in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic in her decision to pause the congestion pricing program. Alluding to these increased financial pressures, Hochul said in a June 5 statement that she could not “add another burden to working- and middle-class New Yorkers.”

But some legal experts have said that Hochul does not have the authority to halt the congestion pricing plan. New York City Comptroller Brad Lander has assembled a coalition of legal experts and potential plaintiffs, led by Michael Gerrard, the Andrew Sabin professor of professional practice at the Law School, to explore possible legal paths to challenge Hochul’s decision, according to a June 30 statement from Lander and Gerrard.

“We believe that Governor Hochul is violating the state law that says the MTA ‘shall implement’ congestion pricing,” Gerrard said in an interview with Spectator. “We don’t think the governor has the authority to supersede that statute.”

The Traffic Mobility & MTA Reform Act of 2019, which was adopted by the New York State Legislature and signed by then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, mandates that the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, an operating agency of the MTA now known as Bridges and Tunnels, “shall establish the central business district tolling program.”

Hochul’s office did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Lander and Gerrard’s coalition is developing lawsuits on the basis of several statutes, including Article 78 of New York Civil Practice Law and Rules, which challenges agency actions or inactions in the state of New York.

Columbia experts have also raised concerns regarding Hochul’s decision to pause the plan beyond the legality of her actions.

“One aspect of the congestion pricing plan that hasn’t been talked about very much is this aspect of roadway safety,” Leah Roberts, a data analyst at the Geospatial and Applied Prevention Science Lab at the Mailman School of Public Health, said.

Roberts is the first author of a recent study that found that “turn traffic calming interventions”—treatments meant to encourage safe turns at intersections—may significantly reduce crash risk for pedestrians in New York City. The findings, published in Injury Prevention, a peer-reviewed journal, suggest that turn traffic calming interventions may be particularly effective in areas prone to speeding, such as intersections connected to long street segments.

These traffic interventions are part of New York City’s Vision Zero initiative, which was established in 2014 and aims to eliminate death and serious injury from traffic incidents, according to the New York City Department of Transportation’s website.

“I think, in effect, halting the congestion pricing plan will prevent us from seeing a lot of those potential benefits to road user safety in New York,” Roberts said.

Although the Congestion Relief Zone would not include any of Columbia’s campuses or West Harlem, the benefits of fewer cars on the road could have spilled over beyond the relief zone itself, Roberts said.

“It’s as simple as that—fewer vehicles means a lower likelihood of pedestrian-vehicle collisions,” Roberts said.

Local officials were among many politicians who voiced their concerns over Hochul’s decision.

New York City Council member Shaun Abreu, CC ’14—who represents Manhattan’s 7th District, which includes Morningside Heights and West Harlem—wrote in a June 5 X post that “The lack of foresight in canceling the congestion pricing plan is alarming.”