New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on Wednesday hailed New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s decision to hit the brakes on congestion pricing.
The surprising reversal also saw the Metropolitan Transportation Authority back off fighting the Garden State’s ongoing legal battle against congestion pricing – writing in a letter to a federal judge that it “no longer” anticipates implementing the toll by June 30.
“I want to thank Governor Hochul for pausing the implementation of congestion pricing in Manhattan’s Central Business District,” Murphy said shortly after Hochul announced she was indefinitely postponing plans to charge drivers $15 to enter Manhattan below 60th Street.
“We fully embrace the notion that the success of Manhattan is inextricably linked to the prosperity of the entire Tri-State Area,” Murphy said, also praising New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
“Governor Hochul and Mayor Adams have been strong, collaborative governing partners and I look forward to continuing to work closely with them for the benefit of all of our residents,” he said.
Murphy was one of congestion pricing’s most vocal critics – and even filed suit against the US Department of Transportation, the Federal Highway Administration and the MTA that claimed the toll unfairly burdened his state.
“Although we have had a difference of opinion with our colleagues in New York on congestion pricing implementation, we have always had a shared vision for growing our regional economy, investing in infrastructure, protecting our environment, and creating good-paying jobs on both sides of the Hudson River,” his Wednesday statement said.
During a two-day hearing in April, lawyers for New Jersey had pushed to delay the plan’s June start date by arguing for a more comprehensive review of the toll’s economic and environmental effects on the state.
“It is mind boggling,” New Jersey lawyer Randy Mastro told the Newark courtroom of the MTA’s claim that there would be “no significant impact” on the state if the congestion plan went ahead as planned.
New Jersey’s legal team implored federal Judge Leo Gordon to issue a call for another, more comprehensive review of the plan.
The MTA had found New Jersey could potentially require mitigation as a result of the toll, but stopped short of allocating the state any of the $115 million it had set side for such purposes, Mastro noted.
“They didn’t consider New Jersey adequately. They didn’t give a dime of mitigation money to New Jersey,” he said in court.
Gordon was expected to rule on the issue ahead of June 30.
Hochul’s surprise about-face leaves several closely-watched lawsuits that had attempted to stop the rollout in limbo.
Lawyers for the MTA filed letters with federal judges in Manhattan, in addition to the one submitted in the New Jersey case, Wednesday similarly letting them know that the agency “no longer anticipates” rolling out the plan on June 30.
“We will keep the Court apprised of any further information as it develops,” the letters say.
The cases in Manhattan attempting to pause the $15 toll include one brought by United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew and Republican Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella, another by New Yorkers Against Congestion Pricing Tax and the third by a second group of city residents.
“Governor Hochul heard the concerns of educators and ordinary New Yorkers that this plan for congestion pricing just shifts pollution, congestion, and costs onto already struggling communities,” UFT President Michael Mulgrew said in a statement Wednesday.
“As an organization that has gone to court to fight this plan, we applaud the Governor for making the right decision,” he added.
Additional reporting by Ben Kochman
