Another Trump NYC congestion pricing deadline passes with MTA tolling intact
Congestion pricing remained in effect Wednesday, in defiance of another deadline from Trump's Department of Transportation and ongoing federal threats to defund New York City area transit and transportation projects should New York not walk walk back the toll.
Wednesday was the latest of three deadlines laid out by U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who has demanded that New York stop tolling drivers who enter Midtown and lower Manhattan — a toll required in order to fund MTA capital projects under a 2019 state law.
The MTA is currently litigating the matter in Manhattan Federal Court, where transit officials have argued that the federal demands to change state policy are unconstitutional.
A source close to Gov. Hochul Wednesday said the governor would soon be informing the feds that, absent a court order to the contrary, the toll would remain in place.
The brinksmanship — with Hochul repeatedly saying the toll will stay as Duffy repeatedly threatens the Empire State's funding — has marked a three-month showdown between state and federal power over whether the state of New York can enforce it's own democratically decided transportation policies.
Last month — when his second deadline expired — Duffy said he was 'giving New York one last chance to turn back or prove their actions are not illegal,' setting a deadline for Wednesday.
Past that, he said, his department would not authorize federal funds for any highway project in Manhattan, would refuse to approve Manhattan projects under the National Environmental Policy Act, and would refuse to greenlight any funding amendments from the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council — unless any of those projects involve safety.
Should New York's 'noncompliance' continue, he went on, he'll defund projects citywide.
The MTA gets approximately $2.5 billion in federal dollars each year, almost entirely as reimbursements through federal formula grants, though Duffy's April threat indicated other agencies — such as the city and state departments of transportation — could lose funding as well.
Previous deadlines were accompanied by an eleventh-hour extension and an admonishment from Duffy that there would be consequences for New York should it keep the toll in place. No such statements had been made as of Wednesday afternoon, neither by Duffy nor USDOT's press team. A USDOT spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Duffy first claimed to be able to end the toll by revoking an already-granted federal authorization in February, weeks after New York began tolling drivers in an implementation of the state's 2019 Traffic Mobility Act, which required the toll as a means of funding a specific list of MTA transit projects.
The MTA promptly sued, calling the revocation unconstitutional.
In response, Duffy set a March 21 deadline for ending the toll before extending the deadline to April 20, then to May 21.
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