The Trump administration delivered a sharp warning to Governor Kathy Hochul on Monday, granting her an extended deadline to end congestion pricing toll collection and cautioning that failure to comply could bring “serious consequences.”
A letter issued by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy threatened that if New York continues collecting the controversial tolls beyond the new May 21 cutoff, the federal government could pull its funding and halt approvals for infrastructure projects in Manhattan.
Duffy further warned that the repercussions may not stop at the city’s borders. “The corrective measures noted above may be expanded to other geographic areas within the State of New York, if any noncompliance continues,” the letter stated.
The warning came just one day after Hochul and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority blew past an earlier April 20 deadline to suspend the $9 congestion charge, showing no signs of backing down.
The federal government had initially ordered the MTA to shut down the nation’s first congestion pricing plan by March 21, prompting the agency to sue in response.
Monday’s letter followed a broader fallout between the administration and state officials, including President Trump and Duffy removing the MTA from a major redevelopment plan for Penn Station.
Hochul had been personally negotiating with Trump over the future of Penn Station, even as tensions with Duffy escalated over the tolling issue.
In the letter, Duffy demanded that state authorities either end the $9 fee for driving south of 60th Street or demonstrate that the policy doesn’t violate federal statutes guaranteeing “freedom from tolls.”
He argued that the plan imposes double costs on drivers, who are being charged to use federal roadways that have already been paid for through their taxes.
“Anyone needing to drive into the area is either forced to pay a cost-prohibitive toll or required to use the substandard transit system run by the Metropolitan Transit Authority,” Duffy wrote.
{Matzav.com}