The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has rejected the appeal by Orange County and Rockland County of a lower court ruling that dismissed their lawsuits that attempted to block New York City’s Congestion Pricing program under which vehicles driving into Manhattan’s Central Business District (CBD) are charged a toll.
Rockland County, Rockland County Executive Ed Day in his official capacity, and the Rockland Legislature were the plaintiffs in one lawsuit. Orange County Executive Steven Neuhaus in his official capacity and Orange County were the plaintiffs in a second suit. Both suits named the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority as defendants.
The lawsuits alleged that the Congestion Pricing program imposed an unauthorized tax, unconstitutionally restricted the right to travel, and violated the Due Process, Equal Protection, and Excessive Fines Clauses of the New York and U.S. Constitutions.
Judge Cathy Seibel had presided over the lawsuits in Federal Court in White Plains. In July 2025, Seibel granted a motion by the defendants to dismiss both complaints and the plaintiffs appealed. The Court of Appeals consolidated the appeals.
The Court of Appeals’ decision released on July 13 supported Judge Seibel’s action in dismissing the lawsuits and denying the plaintiffs the ability to amend their claims. It found that Orange County did not make a case that congestion pricing violates the right to travel. The Court of Appeals determined that both Orange and Rockland failed to state Due Process or Equal Protection claims because the Congestion Pricing program is rationally related to New York’s legitimate interests in raising funds for mass transit and reducing vehicular congestion.
The Court of Appeals found that Rockland County did not plausibly allege that the toll is an unconstitutionally excessive fine. The Court of Appeals noted that “Rockland argues that the Tolling Program violates the Excessive Fines Clauses of the New York and U.S. Constitutions. This claim is meritless. … Rockland does not and cannot allege that driving into the CBD is a punishable offense. The toll thus is not a fine and the Excessive Fines Clauses do not apply at all.”
The three judge appeals panel had held a hearing in March during which attorneys for Rockland and Orange argued that residents of their counties were being hurt by Congestion Pricing and did not have adequate mass transit to use to get into New York City and thus could not avoid having to pay a Congestion Pricing toll.
