Trump’s Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy issued one other spherical of funding threats towards New York state Monday — whereas as soon as once more rollling again a supposed deadline for the top of congestion pricing.
In a letter to Gov. Hochul Monday, Duffy set his third in a row of seemingly toothless deadlines, telling the state to finish the congestion toll by Might 21.
“The federal government sends billions to New York — but we won’t foot the bill if Governor Hochul continues to implement an illegal toll to backfill the budget of New York’s failing transit system,” Duffy stated. “We are giving New York one last chance to turn back or prove their actions are not illegal.”
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy joins New York Metropolis Mayor Eric Adams for a prepare experience into Manhattan from the Dekalb Ave-Flatbush Ave subway station in Brooklyn on Friday, April 4, 2025. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Every day Information)
If the toll persists past Might 21, Duffy stated, his division won’t authorize federal funds for any freeway challenge in Manhattan, will refuse to approve Manhattan initiatives beneath the Nationwide Environmental Coverage Act, and can refuse to greenlight any funding amendments from the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council — except any of these initiatives contain security.
Ought to New York’s “noncompliance” proceed, he threatened, they’ll defund initiatives citywide.
The threats come as the newest swipe in a showdown about federal authority over the state regulation — particularly New York’s congestion pricing regulation, which Duffy continues to say he can finish.
Duffy first claimed to have the ability to revoke an already-granted federal authorization in February, weeks after New York started tolling drivers who entered Midtown and decrease Manhattan in an implementation of the state’s 2019 Site visitors Mobility Act, which required the toll as a way of funding a selected listing of MTA transit initiatives.
The MTA promptly sued, calling the revocation unconstitutional. Hochul agreed, likened Trump to a king, and stated the toll would stay in impact absent a courtroom order.
(L-R) U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, Inside Secretary Doug Burgum, and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy look on as U.S. President Donald Trump prepares to signal govt orders within the Oval Workplace of the White Home on April 9, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Picture by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Pictures)
In response, Duffy set a March 21 deadline for ending the toll. The transportation secretary then prolonged the deadline to April 20, earlier than extending it once more on Monday to Might 21.
In the meantime, the MTA’s go well with over the constitutionality of Duffy’s order continues to work its means by Manhattan federal courtroom, the place legal professionals for the feds stated earlier this month they’re “still evaluating what DOT’s options are” ought to New York maintain the toll in place.
Duffy has referred to as the toll — which expenses most drivers $9 as soon as a day to enter the congestion zone — “class warfare.”
Whereas he acknowledged in his letter to Hochul that federal regulation permits tolls “to be used for transit projects,” he added “it is unconscionable as a matter of policy that highway users are being forced to bail out the MTA transit system.”
Initially Printed: April 21, 2025 at 1:09 PM EDT
