A state judge has tossed a lawsuit filed by the Town of Hempstead challenging the legality of New York’s congestion pricing program.

Judge Arthur Engoron’s ruling came after Hempstead’s lawyers "threw in the towel" at a Manhattan court hearing that they nearly no-showed, according to the head of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which administers the Central Business District Tolling Program.

Town of Hempstead officials dispute the notion they didn’t put up a fight, and noted the town's separate federal lawsuit challenging the Manhattan tolls is still pending.

Speaking at an unrelated news conference in the Bronx Wednesday, MTA chairman and CEO Janno Lieber said Hempstead’s lawsuit was "so frivolous" that the town’s lawyers almost didn’t "show up for the big motion to dismiss."

"They started kvetching about how long it was going to take them to drive into the city," Lieber said, describing a phone conference ahead of the hearing. "We advised them, ‘Please take the Long Island Rail Road. It’s right across from your office."

Ultimately, Lieber said, the town’s legal team showed up, "almost immediately threw in the towel, and the case was dismissed."

Hempstead officials disputed Lieber’s depiction of the hearing, noting the town’s lawyers argued in court for two hours, after which Engoron took a brief break before rendering his decision.

"The Town of Hempstead strongly disagrees with Judge Engoron's decision regarding the Township's lawsuit, which seeks to strike down Governor Hochul's wrong-minded ‘congestion pricing’ Tax," Hempstead Town spokesman Brian Devine said in a statement. "The Town of Hempstead will be appealing the judge's decision in this case and will continue to fight Governor Hochul's attempts to balance the MTA's budgets on the backs of suburban drivers."

The lawsuit argued the tolling plan violated administrative law because the MTA did not hold public hearings after Gov. Kathy Hochul lowered the toll rates from the original $15 to $9 for most vehicles driving to 60th Street and below during peak hours.

The MTA argued the hearings were not necessary, given the adjustment was a change in rate rather than a whole new toll. Unlike entirely new tolls, rate changes do not require public hearings.

"What exactly would the plaintiffs say at a new hearing in opposition to a $9 fee that they have not already said against a $15 fee?" Roderick Hills, a law professor at New York University who has been a vocal supporter of congestion pricing, said in a Newsday interview.

Engoron’s ruling, which followed several other legal wins for congestion pricing in recent months, is "typical of the litigation so far, and I expect that will continue in all the courthouses," Lieber said.

Devine said Wednesday the town "has confidence in its position in the ongoing federal litigation on this matter."

Some of the arguments in Hempstead's federal suit, including that the MTA should provide a toll-free option for people driving into Manhattan's congestion zone, were cited in the Trump administration's decision earlier this year to rescind federal approval for congestion pricing.

A federal judge last month imposed a preliminary injunction keeping the program alive while the case is adjudicated.