LI town files federal lawsuit to stop congestion pricing [Video]

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) — The Town of Hempstead filed a federal lawsuit on Wednesday to stop the MTA’s congestion pricing plan, joining an array of lawsuits but becoming the first municipality to initiate a legal challenge against the tolling plan.

Congestion pricing, officially called the Central Business Tolling Program, is expected to go into place on June 30 and will charge most drivers at least $15 daily to enter Manhattan below 60^th Street during the daytime. Exemptions have been established for emergency vehicles, specialized city vehicles, buses, vehicles carrying disabled people and certain low-income commuters.

The lawsuit lists the Town of Hempstead and Town Supervisor Donald Clavin as plantiffs while officials from the MTA and Federal Highway Administration are defendants. Filed in the U.S. District Court’s Eastern District of New York, the lawsuit is pursuing an injunction to stop the implementation of the plan.

Newsday reportedthat the suit alleges congestion pricing “treats classes of persons differently …