Attorneys for Gov. Kathy Hochul say two lawsuits against the New York governor trying to force her to enact congestion pricing should be tossed on the basis of a linguistic technicality, reports the New York Post.
The original plan would charge drivers $15 to enter Manhattan below 59th Street. Hochul put the kibosh on the plan this summer, arguing it put an unfair economic burden on travelers, but framed the move as a long pause rather than an outright veto.
This rhetorical slight-of-hand is now being used by her council to argue the lawsuits against her "misread state statues" regarding the "pause as a final agency determination."
"She did not say she planned to veto the project or that the pause would be permanent," her attorneys say.
"Any resulting harm is impermissibly speculative," according to the court filing by her team.
Her attorneys claim the lawsuits against her are "a vehicle to litigate the wisdom of a discretionary, non-final policy decision by the executive branch," according to the filing regarding the first-in-the-nation initiative.
Lawyers say those opposed to the pause should use the "voting machine — not the courts" to settle the disagreement.
Riders Alliance, one of the plaintiffs, calls the governor's argument "incoherent and embarrassing."
"Her lawyers argue the pause is 'temporary,' yet the Governor said it's 'indefinite, which, by definition, implies a permanent pause is also possible on the Gov's whim" the group wrote on social media. "Sounds pretty arbitrary and capricious to us."
The pause has caused $500 million in tolling equipment to go unused and has put a wrench in MTA construction plans.
John Lindsay, spokesman for Hochul, said his boss believes, "like the majority of New Yorkers," that now is not the right time "to implement congestion pricing."