Tolls on drivers entering Manhattan below 60th Street will move ahead as scheduled this weekend — unless New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration can convince a judge to bolster a recent ruling.
Beginning Sunday, the MTA plans to flip on automated tolling cameras that will bill passenger vehicles $9 during daytime hours in the MTA’s “congestion relief zone.” It would mark the start of a years-in-the-making congestion pricing program that’s slated to raise billions of dollars for New York City’s public transit system.
An attorney for Murphy’s office, which sued to try to block the toll from taking effect, claims a ruling Monday from Senior U.S. Judge Leo Gordon prevents New York from moving ahead with the toll, at least temporarily.
But while the ruling demanded more details about the program, it did not include a specific order blocking the toll from taking effect. And unless Murphy’s office can quickly convince the judge to clarify that his ruling actually does temporarily prohibit the plan, the MTA and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul say they intend on charging the toll as scheduled.
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