President Donald Trump’s war against New York City’s congestion pricing has so far produced zero wins on the battlefield, but he is not giving up.
While campaigning for his second term last May, Trump vowed to terminate congestion pricing in his first week back in the White House. He called the tolling program a “disaster,” claiming it is a “massive business killer and tax on New Yorkers.”
It took a little longer than a week, but Trump kept his promise. In February, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy issued a letter to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul informing her that federal approval for congestion pricing had been revoked.
New York officials apparently knew about Duffy’s plans to end congestion pricing before the letter was issued. That same day, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority filed a federal lawsuit challenging the revocation.
New York initially had until March 21 to end the program before the deadline was extended to April 20 and extended again to May 21.
Hochul never wavered from her decision to keep congestion pricing going.
“I’m not shutting it off,” Hochul told NBC New York on March 21. “I’m not shutting it off. As I repeated in the Oval Office (last) Friday, the cameras are not going off. It is working. It was a state decision. We had the proper federal approvals for this.”
In April, Duffy gave Hochul an ultimatum: shut down congestion pricing or lose federal funding.
“President Trump and I will not sit back while Gov. Hochul engages in class warfare and prices working-class Americans out of accessing New York City,” Duffy said in a statement. “The federal government sends billions to New York – but we won’t foot the bill if Gov. Hochul continues to implement an illegal toll to backfill the budget of New York’s failing transit system. We are giving New York one last chance to turn back or prove their actions are not illegal.”
Since then, it has been nothing but a series of losses for Trump and Duffy. On April 23, the Department of Justice accidentally filed an internal memo on the public docket, revealing U.S. attorneys admitting they have no case.
In May, the judge in MTA’s case against Duffy, Lewis J. Liman, barred the federal government from taking retaliatory action against New York for keeping congestion pricing going until the case is decided. That decision is expected within the next few weeks. Liman is a Trump appointee.
On top of all the federal government losses, legal challenges from others have also fallen flat. At least nine federal lawsuits have been filed by state and local governments, trucking associations, residents and business owners. Every single one of them has been struck down.
With no checkmarks in the “W” column, Trump appeared defeated. But earlier this week, he reignited his call to end congestion pricing.
In a social media post on Nov. 3, Trump called Manhattan a “ghost town,” claiming people are not entering the city because of congestion pricing.
He said he is going to ask Duffy “to take a good, long look at terminating New York City Congestion Pricing.”
The next day, Duffy responded on social media, claiming New York’s “illegal congestion pricing is a tax on working people, and it’s CRUSHING NYC.”
“Our push to end this scam has been stuck in a district court for MONTHS,” Duffy said. “While New York keeps fighting our rightful legal authorities, Hochul continues to price more and more people out of the city.”
No court has ruled congestion pricing is illegal.
It is not clear what Duffy will and can do. Revoking the state’s authority will likely be struck down by the court, which has prohibited the federal government from taking any action to force compliance with Duffy’s previous orders. The U.S. Department of Transportation referred to Duffy’s social media response when reached for comment.
Although opinions on congestion pricing are mixed, some data refute Trump’s claim that the program is not working. In September, MTA revealed that nearly 18 million fewer vehicles have entered the congestion relief zone since it started in January. Tunnel and bridge crossings are up to 36% faster during morning peak travel. Crashes are down 14%. LL
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