Congestion Pricing Will Shift Pollution From Manhattan To Staten Island’s North Shore: BP Fossella On Amended Complaint Filed In Lawsuit

A Statement from Borough President Vito Fossella on Filing of Amended Complaint in Congestion Pricing Lawsuit: “Congestion Pricing is the Fresh Kills Landfill 2.0”

Today, we filed a lawsuit in Federal Court (the Eastern District of New York) to protect the people of Staten Island from the implementation of a congestion pricing plan that will inflict environmental and economic harm and damage to the people and the neighborhoods of Staten Island.

The attorneys at Steptoe LLC filed an amended complaint today alleging five causes of action – four Federal causes, and one State cause.

In this lawsuit, we contend, in part, that the fast-tracked tolling program and the rushed environmental assessment are in violation of State and Federal law and regulations, specifically the National Environmental Policy Act and the Green Amendment of the New York State Constitution.

We will further contend that the studies and the implementation of this congestion pricing plan were timed so as to take effect prior to local laws that have already identified “Environmental Justice Areas,” and will, later this year, result in a report with regard to recommendations that will seek to redress environmental problems in the Environmental Justice Areas already identified in the City, such as the North Shore of Staten Island.

This plan is nothing more than another toll and tax on the people of Staten Island that will be made to pay an additional $15 to drive into Manhattan below 60^th St. The government’s own study concluded that not only will traffic on Staten Island increase, but that Staten Islanders will suffer increases in every one of the six hazardous pollutants measured in the study, and that those increases in pollution will persist at least through 2045.

This tolling plan will essentially shift air pollution from Manhattan to Staten Island, and to parts of Staten Island, especially the North Shore, which already suffer from some of the worst air pollution in the City of New York. It is unconscionable that the City would knowingly and deliberately increase the air pollution of our borough for the next fifty years, especially after making Staten Island suffer from fifty years of the Fresh Kills Landfill. If this congestion pricing toll is implemented, it will mark the furtherance of one century during which the City of New York will have knowingly, deliberately, and under the color of the law, intentionally polluted the Borough of Staten Island.

It seems what this is really about is allowing the MTA to plug a billion-dollar hole in its budget. Wouldn’t it be more fair and equitable if they tried to stop the approximately 700 million dollars in fare evasion each year?

We want to thank, once again, the attorneys Lou Gelormino and Mark Fonte for assisting n the litigation. They are always there for the people of Staten Island. Also, thanks to a bipartisan group of elected officials, as well as the UFT President, Mike Mulgrew.

Banner Image: NYC street. Image Credit – Lerone Pieters