Supporters of the tolling program want Gov. Kathy Hochul to bring it back from an indefinite suspension. Opponents want it dead for good.
Three months after Gov. Kathy Hochul indefinitely paused the congestion pricing tolling program, its supporters are heading to a New York court on Friday to try to revive it.
These supporters — including the City Club of New York, Riders Alliance and Sierra Club — have filed a pair of lawsuits against Ms. Hochul and state transportation officials, arguing that the governor did not have the authority to stop congestion pricing and that the pause undermined the state’s environmental goals.
“We believe that the governor has overstepped her boundaries,” said Layla Law-Gisiko, president of the City Club, an influential civic organization.
The congestion pricing program — the first of its kind in the nation — was to have begun charging fees to most vehicles entering Manhattan below 60th Street on June 30. Passenger vehicles entering the zone would have been charged up to $15 once a day, with some exceptions.
Congestion pricing was expected to ease some of the worst traffic in the nation and improve air quality. The tolls were projected to raise about $1 billion annually, which would have been used to secure $15 billion in financing for crucial repairs to New York City’s sprawling transit system.
At Friday’s hearing, oral arguments in the two lawsuits supporting congestion pricing are scheduled to be heard before Justice Arthur F. Engoron in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan. Before the hearing, congestion pricing supporters are planning to rally outside the courthouse.
“This is a fundamental case about the separation of powers,” said Richard Emery, a lawyer for City Club. “Can the governor effectively veto legislation that has already been passed and signed by a prior governor?”
The second lawsuit, filed by Riders Alliance, a transit advocacy organization, and two environmental groups, the Sierra Club and the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance, argues that Ms. Hochul’s decision compromises state efforts to rein in greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to climate change.
Lawyers for the governor and state transportation officials are seeking to dismiss the lawsuits, according to legal filings.
Congestion pricing has also faced widespread opposition — including from Gov. Philip D. Murphy of New Jersey and some New York City elected officials. A Siena College survey in April found that 63 percent of New York State residents opposed congestion pricing.
Many critics see the tolls as an unfair burden on commuters from the boroughs and suburbs outside Manhattan and have also raised concerns about the environmental impact on neighborhoods that could see an increase in traffic as drivers try to avoid the tolls.
“Traffic will get worse, air pollution will get worse, and we will have to pay more,” said the Staten Island borough president, Vito J. Fossella. “So then the question is, well, what’s in it for us? And the answer is: nothing.”
For more than a year, the congestion pricing program has been at the center of several legal battles waged by a mix of groups seeking to either kill the proposal or bring it back from purgatory.
Kara Fesolovich, a spokeswoman for Ms. Hochul, declined to comment on the two recent lawsuits supporting congestion pricing. But she said that “like the majority of New Yorkers, Governor Hochul believes this is not the right time to implement congestion pricing.”
Still, Janno Lieber, the chief executive of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said during a news conference on Wednesday that the authority is ready to carry out congestion pricing. He has said that he believes the governor will reinstate it.
Mr. Lieber declined to share an opinion about the legality of Ms. Hochul’s decision to halt the program and said that as soon as congestion pricing was cleared to move forward, “we would proceed with it.”
Danny Pearlstein, a spokesman for Riders Alliance, said “riders never wanted to sue the governor.”
“But we need to use every tool in our toolbox to make sure that we have the transit funding that we need and that we achieve the other promises of congestion pricing, like faster buses and cleaner air,” he said.
Congestion pricing supporters have assailed the governor’s decision, saying that it has left critical transit services and improvements in limbo. In July, the Transport Workers Union sued over cuts to bus service, which the union attributed to the congestion pricing delay. A judge granted the union a temporary restraining order that forced the M.T.A. to restore service. A hearing has been scheduled for October 10.