New York City’s powerful teachers union is funding Staten Island’s legal fight to stop the MTA’s congestion pricing plan, The Post has learned.
The United Federation of Teachers is “taking the lead” in the Brooklyn federal court suit, providing attorneys and planning to shoulder all costs associated with the case, said Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella, who along with the union is a plaintiff in The suit.
“Give [UFT President] Mike Mulgre got a lot of credit for having the guts to step up,” Fossella said Friday night. “He said this would hurt his members, especially new teachers who earn the lowest salary and have little or no right to decide where they will be assigned.”
The union declined to say how much it expects to pay in legal fees.
The lawsuit filed Thursday contends that teachers, firefighters, EMS workers and other essential public servants would be “forced to bear the burden of the MTA’s latest fundraising tactic.”
Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella is a plaintiff along with the teachers union to end the MTA’s congestion pricing plan. Brigitte Stelzer
Mulgrew called Fossella “out of the blue” a few months ago and asked if Staten Island was serious about a legal challenge, the Republican district chair recalled.
“He asked me if we could do it together and would they want to take the lead on the legal side, and I said ‘great, of course.’ The more the merrier,” Fosella said.
“We have been working very quietly over the last few months to build what we believe is a strong case.”
The legal team is led by Alan M. Klinger, partner and leading municipal employment attorney at Steptoe LLP, and includes other attorneys from the New York-based firm. Klinger’s longtime clients include the UFT, the Uniformed Paramedics Association and other city unions.
The lawsuit claims that teachers, firefighters, EMS workers and other essential public servants would bear the brunt of congestion pricing. AP
The company’s major victories in recent years include securing a $40 million jury verdict in 2022 for client Express Mobile Inc. in a patent infringement case against e-commerce company Shopify.
The lawsuit asks the court to stop implementation of the plan, which is scheduled to launch in May and would charge drivers $15 a day to use city streets and parkways south of 60th Street in Manhattan.
He also maintains that the plan was greenlit through a “rushed” federal review process and would create more pollution in Staten Island and the Bronx as drivers detour around the congestion zone.
In addition to the UFT, Fossella and Mulgrew, the lawsuit names as plaintiffs seven teachers who claim their lives would be negatively affected by congestion pricing, including four from Staten Island and one from New Jersey who commute to Manhattan.
The lawsuit claims the congestion plan would increase pollution in Staten Island and the Bronx as traffic is diverted through those boroughs. AP
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis and City Council Minority Leader Joe Borelli, both Staten Island Republicans, told The Post they plan to join as plaintiffs, despite the UFT’s long history of backing left-wing politicians such as the Gov. Kathy Hochul, who has advocated for congestion pricing.
“I will partner with anyone who shares the same goal, and in this case it is to stop congestion pricing,” Malliotakis said.
Other city unions are expected to file legal briefs supporting the lawsuit, Fossella said.
The lawsuit is at least the fourth court challenge filed against the tolling plan in recent months, including a federal lawsuit filed in July by New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, who contends the feds failed to conduct an adequate review of the impact of the toll in Garden. State drivers.
Critics of the MTA plans also claim that the federal review process was rushed and did not take into account surrounding districts or New Jersey. Christopher Sadowski
Fossella initially planned to have Staten Island join Murphy’s lawsuit, but said he changed his mind after speaking with Randy Mastro, the attorney representing New Jersey, and learning that his arguments for blocking the tolls differed too much from those of your district.
Mulgrew in a statement defended the union’s decision to lead the lawsuit, saying that “congestion pricing was sold as a common good that would improve air quality in New York City, improve traffic congestion in the City of New York and would raise money for public transportation… But that’s not all.” the plan they delivered.
“Only one borough would see better air quality and better congestion: Manhattan. For people in other counties, pollution and congestion would worsen, especially in the South Bronx and Staten Island. That is the plan that was delivered. “It is a flawed plan and that is why we ask the court to intervene,” he added.
Transit officials expect the toll to raise $1 billion a year, which will be used to finance $15 billion in bonds to pay for major improvements to the MTA subway, commuter rail and bus systems.
MTA spokesman John McCarthy insisted that the review process was fair and that the controversial tax would “combat increasingly congested streets.”
“We must adequately fund a public transportation system that will bring safer, less congested streets, cleaner air and better transit for the vast majority of students and teachers who take public transportation to school,” he added.
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