Local elected officials sign on to lawsuit filed against NYC congestion pricing program

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Most of Staten Island’s elected officials are throwing their support behind the borough president’s newest plan to oppose congestion pricing.

Last week, Borough President Vito Fossella and United Federation of Teachers (UFT) President Michael Mulgrew filed a federal lawsuit against the MTA, U.S. Department of Transportation and various other involved entities aiming to stop the implementation of New York City’s congestion pricing program, which is scheduled to take effect this spring.

Since then, several of the borough’s other elected officials have signed on as plaintiffs in the lawsuit, including Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island/South Brooklyn), State Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton (D-North Shore/South Brooklyn), State Sen. Andrew Lanza (R-Staten Island), Assemblyman Michael Tannousis (R-East Shore/South Brooklyn), Assemblyman Michael Reilly (R-South Shore), Councilman Joseph Borelli (R-South Shore), Councilwoman Kamillah Hanks (D-North Shore) and Councilman David Carr (R-Mid-Island).

The suit, which is publicly available online, claims that congestion pricing “would not eliminate air and noise pollution and traffic, but would simply shift pollution and traffic to Staten Island, the Bronx, Upper Manhattan, and Northern New Jersey.”

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