A federal magistrate judge has found New York State has been illegally operating a portion of the Thruway on Seneca lands.
Judge Michael Roemer said in a report issued this week that the easement the state made with the Seneca Nation in the 1950s violated federal law, which requires the transfer of any tribal land to have approval of the federal government.
About three miles of the Thruway runs on Seneca Territory in Western New York.
The report, if adopted by a federal district court judge, would require the state to negotiate a new valid easement for the land.
The Seneca Nation also believes they are entitled to the toll revenue from that part of the Thruway, which they say totals $4 billion to date. Judge Roemer did not include that request in his report.
The governor’s office says it has no comment on pending litigation.
