NY sightseeing bus company’s federal lawsuit against rivals is tossed
By Mike Scarcella
Aug 27 (Reuters) -A U.S. judge on Tuesday threw out Go New York Tours' lawsuit accusing other sightseeing bus companies of conspiring to eliminate competition in the hop-on, hop-off city tourism market.
U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos in a ruling dismissed Go New York’s lawsuit against rivals Gray Line New York Tours, Big Bus Tours Group and others because it substantially resembled one that the company lost in 2020.
Both lawsuits alleged a conspiracy among dominant bus tour operators to stop Go New York from competing, allowing the rivals to charge tourists artificially higher prices for “attraction passes,” which give bus riders one-price admission to various popular tourist spots.
Maurice Ross, an attorney for Go New York, on Tuesday said his client planned to appeal and was "very confident" they would win reinstatement. He said a related action filed by Go New York was pending in state court.
Gray Line, Big Bus and lawyers for the two companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Both companies denied any wrongdoing.
Go New York owns and operates the TopView branded fleet of more than 40 double-decker, hop-on, hop-off tour buses in New York, a business line it launched in 2012.
Go New York’s antitrust claims in the prior 2019 federal lawsuit were dismissed with prejudice, Ramos said, barring the company from pursuing them for a second time.
Big Bus and Gray Line in a court filing called the latest lawsuit “recycled” and had urged Ramos to dismiss it.
Go New York disputed that its new case, filed in 2023, was barred by the ruling in the prior litigation. Ramos was not persuaded, saying the claims in the new lawsuit were “nearly identical factual allegations” to the prior one.
A new factual detail from Go New York’s 2023 lawsuit focused on a 2020 agreement between Gray Line and Big Bus, in which Gray Line — ending its bus business in New York — said it will sell tickets for Big Bus in exchange for a commission.
Ramos said the factual circumstances of the venture do not support Go New York’s claims that the two companies are monopolizing the tourism market or that the alleged merger violated antitrust law.
But he said Go New York could have another chance to try to persuade him that the arrangement was unlawful.
The case is Go New York Tours Inc v. Gray Line New York Tours Inc, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 1:23-cv-04256.
For Go New York: Maurice Ross and Randall Rasey of Barton
For Gray Line: Ken Edelson of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
For Big Bus: Peter Sartorius of Olshan Frome Wolosky
Read more:
NY sightseeing bus company accuses rivals of US antitrust violations
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