Judge Blocks Congestion Fee For NYC Taxi Trips

NEW YORK — A judge on Thursday blocked a new surcharge for taxi and Uber trips from going into effect next month after cabbies sued over the measure. New York City and state officials cannot take any action to enforce the fee until after a Jan. 3 hearing on the matter, the ruling in state Supreme Court says.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a law this spring to impose a $2.75 fee for trips to and from central and lower Manhattan ordered through ride-hailing apps and a $2.50 charge for yellow cab rides.

The fees, part of a so-called congestion pricing plan the governor has embraced, were set to take effect Jan. 1. But five taxi companies, three drivers and an individual medallion owner filed a lawsuit Wednesday to kill them, alleging the "arbitrary and capricious" law unfairly harms taxi medallion owners.

One of the plaintiffs is Nicolae Hent, a medallion owner-driver and close friend of Nicanor Ochisor, a Queens cabbie who took his own life this past March. He said he hopes to testify at the Jan. 3 hearing.

"If I have to testify I’ll tell the judge, you cannot accept this robbery against these people," Hent said.

Taxi drivers have protested the rule in recent weeks, arguing it will only add to the heavy financial burden many medallion owners already face.

Eight professional drivers in the city have died by suicide since November 2017, some of them facing heavy debts and other woes. One of them was Kenny Chow, whose brother and fellow driver Richard Chow is another plaintiff in the lawsuit.

A spokesman for Cuomo did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling. A spokesman for the city Law Department said the underlying lawsuit is under review.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. They are five taxi companies, three drivers and an individual medallion owner, not five taxi fleet owners and four individual drivers.

(Lead image: Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)