NAACP backs lawsuit to stop NYC congestion pricing plan, as final MTA board vote nears

Under the proposed congestion pricing plan, passenger vehicles would be charged $15, trucks would be charged anywhere from $24-$36 depending on size, and motorcycles would be charged $7.50A new group has joined the calls to halt the MTA's plan that would charge drivers to enter Manhattan below 61st Street.

"This is not fair, this is not right, this is an injustice," said Jasmine Robinson of the Staten Island NAACP chapter.Even with a major lawsuit hanging in the balance, sources confirmed to NBC New York that the MTA is planning to get final board approval the last week of March. But a city teacher's union that is part of the lawsuit to block the plan said Friday that there is still time to avoid the first congestion toll in the nation, modeled after similar systems in Europe.

The approval came after the Traffic Mobility Review Board delivered its report to the MTA on Nov. 30, laying out the general guidelines for the impending tolls, including costs, when certain prices will be in effect, who gets credits and more.Congestion pricing would impact any driver entering what is being called the Central Business District , which stretches from 60th Street in Manhattan and below, all the way down to the southern tip of the Financial District.

Only one toll will be levied per day — so anyone who enters the area, then leaves and returns, will still only be charged the toll once for that day. New York Taxi Workers Alliance Executive Director Bhairavi Desai said in a statement that the plan is"a reckless proposal that will devastate an entire workforce."Many groups had been hoping to get exemptions, but very few will avoid having to pay the toll entirely. That small group is limited just to specialized government vehicles and emergency vehicles.

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