For several months, I’ve been meeting via Zoom with like-minded folks who oppose the imposition of a toll-tax (aka congestion pricing) to enter Manhattan south of 60^th Street. Late last year, as other concerned folks and groups joined our weekly Zooms, those gathered decided to hire a lawyer and explore bringing a lawsuit. The group chose a name and incorporated as New Yorkers Against Congestion Pricing Tax. It raised funds, including through a GoFundMe page. Its members sought out plaintiffs including from its members which included a Member of the New York State Assembly long opposed to the tax. Gotham even proved a source (more on that later.). The lawyer recommended and designed a class action complaint calling for an Environmental Impact Statement before the scheme could proceed. We start to plan an announcement. During that process the members of the Common Sense Caucus of the City Council signed on. 

The filing of the lawsuit (by attorney Jack Lester) and its announcement occurred last Thursday (January 18, 2024); despite the gathering in the freezing cold, this news conference attracted more cameras and press than I can recall for the many successful “pressers” I’ve been involved in planning over two decades since I left public service. We gave an exclusive to the New York Post which ran the eve before.

Stories and reports ran in many news outlet and I posted those we found at the Media page of Keep NYC Congestion Tax Free for which I am a senior policy advisor.

Interestingly, a spokesman for one of the pro-taxing groups tried to paint the plaintiffs as all folk owning a second home. Of course, the real story of that plaintiff: a senior citizen who feared for COVID and relocated for health reasons but still needed to see doctors with officers south of 60^th Street – all outlined in the complaint! Many in Gotham may know that individual (read on for a clue.).

Several plaintiffs have a personal connection to this commentator, including the current president and immediate past president of the borough-wide Queens Civic Congress (which also is a plaintiff and which I co-founded and served as its second ever president); and the President of the largest co-operative in Queens; even Gotham proved a source (amazing what gets discussed at Gotham’s weekly happy hour).

In closing, anyone remember the Westway project? As I discussed in this interview (at the 23:01 point), ultimately, its demise involved its affect on tiny snail darters; this class action lawsuit aims to protect human lives. Think about that! It remains something I feel strongly about, not just as a co-chair of GOtham GREEN®, but as a public servant who worked to pass major environmental laws in the last 1980s and early 1990s.