Attorney David Schwartz, Gothan Government Relations Talking About NYC Residents Suing To Stop Congestion Pricing ‪@CBSNewYork‬

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0:00 residents on the Lower East Side are now 0:02 fil filing a class action lawsuit to 0:05 stop congestion pricing they are the 0:07 latest group to claim the MTA is 0:09 disregarding the environmental impact on 0:11 their Community CBS 2 political reporter 0:14 Marsha Kramer here now with more on this 0:16 Mar Maurice and Christine first it was 0:18 New Jersey governor Phil Murphy followed 0:20 by the mayor of Fort Lee and the burrow 0:22 president of Staten Island now is people 0:25 who live on the low E side saying 0:26
congestion pricing will adversely impact 0:29 their lives and they are demanding a 0:31 full scale a fullscale environmental 0:33 impact study before the tolling plan 0:36 goes into effect but I feel that my 0:38 voice and the voices of my neighborhood 0:40 have been ignored and dismissed lowy 0:42 side resident Trevor Holland one of many 0:44 sign caring protesters worrying about 0:47 the increase in pollution caused by 0:49 congestion pricing which will charge 0:51 drivers steep fees to drive into 0:52 Manhattan Central business district 0:54 below 60th stre the ntaa lies when it 0:57 says that congestion pricing will have a 0:59
positive impact on the central business 1:00 district and that it will help the 1:02 environment their own environmental 1:04 report shows that congestion pricing 1:06 will actually increase pollutants In 1:08 This Very Community the residents joined 1:11 by numerous public officials in filing a 1:13 class action suit several lawmakers 1:16 represent so-called Transit deserts 1:18 where residents are forced to drive due 1:20 to the lack of mass transit options why 1:22 isn't there an environmental impact 1:25 study on such a it's going to push uh 1:29 obvious pollution around to other 1:31 neighborhoods why not you know why 1:34 because they might not like the results 1:36 the MTA they wouldn't like the results 1:38 they did an environmental assessment 1:40 study which is essentially a rubber 1:43 stamp that's how serious the MTA is and 1:46 with congestion pricing set to raise a 1:47 billion dollars a year for Capital 1:49 Improvements others questioned the 1:51 ability of the agency to spend money 1:53 wisely simply throwing more and more 1:55 money down the black hole of of a broken 1:59 system is is not the answer the MTA 2:01 defended his 4,000 page environmental 2:03 assessment and insisted that the 2:05 environmental concerns will be 2:07 re-evaluated for the adopted tolling 2:09 structure before tolling commences it's 2:12 time to move forward and deal with the 2:13 congestion that's clogging roads and 2:15 slowing down emergency vehicles buses 2:17 and commerce while also polluting the 2:19 airway breed said the mta's John 2:21 McCarthy legal experts said residents 2:24 may have a good case for a re-evaluation 2:26 of the policy there's a lot of moving 2:29 Parts here but certainly the the court 2:31 is going to be given enough to chew on 2:34 that that they need to you know they 2:36 need to at least uh put the mta's feet 2:38 to the fire about this environmental 2:42 impact now the MTA hopes to begin 2:44 congestion pricing in the spring but 2:46 with so many different suits it's
2:48 unclear whether they actually will be 2:50 able to Christine Maurice which sounds 2:52 like we're a longer way off at this 2:54 moment right lot people are hoping it 2:56 right it could be thanks Mara Mara