Sean Duffy, the director of travel, wrote a letter to the governor. On Wednesday afternoon, Kathy Hochul (D-NY ) made the announcement.
” New York State’s congestion pricing plan is a slap in the face to working-class Americans and small business owners” , , Duffy said in a press release. Commuters who use the highway system to provide New York City have previously contributed money to the cost of these highways, including gas taxes and other taxes. However, the burden program then requires drivers to pay for a transit system rather than highways, leaving them without a free highway alternative.
” It’s back and cruel”, he added.
President Donald Trump, a previous New Yorker, declared himself nobility after the move.
“CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD”, he said in a blog on Truth Social. ” Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING”!
Hochul issued a sharp rebuke of his blog, saying in a speech,” We are a nation of laws, not ruled by a king”.
Before praising the agency’s reduced traffic and foot traffic, she said,” Broadway displays are selling out, as a New Yorker, like President Trump, knows quite well, that public transport is the essence of New York City.”
” We are a nation of laws, no ruled by a king”, she added. In order to protect this crucial system, the MTA has filed a legal complaint in the Southern District of New York. We’ll see you in judge”.
Following an expanded delay from Hochul, which caused a significant controversy from transport activists in the city, New York City finally implemented the plan in January. Before reintroducing it, she altered the plan to reduce the ringing impact on riders.
Duffy and another Transportation Department officers claimed that the plan had been postponed for two reasons. One is because they think the program’s size is “unprecedented” and “provides no toll-free choice for many individuals who want or need to travel by car in this big developed area.”
The DOT’s next argument was made that efforts to raise funds for the state’s Metropolitan Transit Authority were “primarily” to blame for the burden.
According to the DOT, by doing so, the captain violates the VPPP’s purpose, which is to implement tolls for gridlock reduction rather than creating transit revenue.
Duffy added that he made the decision to review the plan after Trump and New Jersey representatives, who had long been against it, expressed concern. He ended the letter by stating that Federal Highway Administration representatives may touch New York’s transport ministry to “discover the peaceful stoppage of toll operations under this terminated pilot project.”
The tolling agency’s death is now raising legitimate concerns. On Wednesday afternoon, the MTA announced that it would be filing paperwork in jury to maintain the program.
The MTA filed documents in federal court now to make sure that the very powerful system, which has already significantly slowed traffic and shortened travel times while accelerating the speeds of buses and emergency vehicles, may persist despite this false effort to seize those benefits away from the millions of mass transit users, pedestrians, and, especially, the drivers who visit the Manhattan Central Business District, according to a statement.
It’s mystifying that USDOT will attempt to completely reverse its course after four years and 4, 000 pages of federally supervised environmental review, and just three months after giving the Congestion Relief Program final approval, it continued.
New York House Republicans cheered the decision.
” BIG news! President Trump kept his word and “is halting the# NYC Congestion Pricing cash grab”! Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), the only New York House Republican, posted on X. ” Since first speaking with him in May, he agreed that this tax unfairly double tolls our constituents, would have a negative impact on our city’s economy &, he would reverse President Biden’s rubber stamp! Thank you President Trump”!
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY ) called the plan a “scam” and said he won’t stop fighting “until it’s dead for good”.
I have spearheaded the effort to end congestion pricing, and I’m grateful to @POTUS for acting on his promise to stop this scam. He posted on X and he said,” I will not stop fighting until it’s dead for good and the @MTA is held accountable for its decades of mismanagement and waste.”
On the other side of the aisle, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY ) wasn’t as kind to Trump. He , called , the DOT’s argument for canceling the plan “utterly baseless and, frankly, laughable”. He also noted the program’s benefits: less traffic within the city and less “noise pollution”.
He claimed that the idea of roking approval for a federal initiative of this size is “almost unheard of.” ” I firmly believe that the President has no legal authority to unilaterally halt this program. The Value Pricing Program has a solid foundation under federal law, and it cannot be revoked in any way, especially when it is clearly delivering tangible benefits.
” Mr. President, we’ll see you in court”, he added.
Riders Alliance, an organization representing transit riders in the city, also suggested it would challenge the decision.
” We’ve organized for a decade and prevailed in court in three states, achieved a historic victory, and will continue to defend it with everything we have”, it said.
In an effort to persuade Trump of the worth of the plan, Hochul was scheduled to speak with him more about congestion pricing. In January, she spoke with him several times about congestion pricing, and he rebuffed it. During their meeting at the National Governors Association event on February 20 to 22, Hochul and him could discuss congestion pricing.
Additionally, Lawler and Malliotakis spoke with Trump in hopes that he would halt the plan. Both lawmakers represent cities where cars are used to commute to the city.
Gov. In a letter to Trump, Murphy (D-NY ) urged him to end the plan, saying it was” a disaster for working- and middle-class New Jersey commuters and residents who need or want to visit Lower Manhattan.”
His state is already suing to put an end to the plan.
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A source with knowledge of the Trump administration said the letter was intended as a negotiating tactic rather than the program’s final step, according to The New York Post, which first reported the news.
The Washington Examiner contacted Hochul’s office for comment, but the publication did not receive a response.
