NYC's congestion pricing faces new May deadline or "New York risks serious consequences"
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned Gov. Kathy Hochul "New York risks serious consequences" unless it stops collecting congestion pricing tolls.
"President Trump and I will not sit back while Governor Hochul engages in class warfare and prices working-class Americans out of accessing New York City," Duffy said. "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. We are giving New York one last chance to turn back or prove their actions are not illegal."
In a new letter Monday, Duffy again pointed out that he terminated a Nov. '24 exception granted under the Biden administration that allowed congestion pricing to go forward.
"New York therefore is not legally permitted to collect tolls on roads within the [congestion pricing] zone that were constructed using Federal-aid highway funds," Duffy wrote.
Toll collection was supposed to stop by March 21, and then that deadline was extended until Sunday, April 20.
New deadline is May 21
Duffy is now demanding New York's Department of Transportation respond by May 21, saying it must either certify that collection of tolls has ceased or explain why the continued collection of tolls doesn't violate the rule that all roads constructed with federal highway funds "shall be free from tolls of any kind" unless an exception applies - the exception that Duffy says he terminated.
Duffy said that if the Federal Highway Administration determines that New York is out of compliance, then on May 28, the FHWA will:
- Halt all advance construction projects throughout Manhattan except for those deemed essential for safety
- Halt all environmental approvals for projects in Manhattan, except for safety projects
- Halt Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) amendments
If congestion pricing tolling continues even after that, those moves will then expand to include the entire city, not just Manhattan.
"The corrective measures noted above may be expanded to other geographic areas within the State of New York, if any noncompliance continues," Duffy wrote.
"New York's cordon pricing program imposes a disproportionate financial hardship on low and medium-income hardworking American drivers for the benefit of high-income drivers. It is not consistent with the Federal-aid Highway Program, which was established and funded as a 'user-pay' system through the gas tax," Duffy wrote. "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. This is a breach of the promise made to the hardworking American taxpayers whose gas taxes have funded the existing Federal-aid highway system in this area."
Hochul, New York officials say the cameras are staying on
Congestion pricing and tolling remained in effect Monday, despite the Sunday deadline set by the Trump administration to end it.
"I received the letter from USDOT extending their congestion pricing threats once again. I repeat: congestion pricing is legal — and it's working. Traffic is down, business is up and the cameras are staying on," Hochul said in a statement Monday.
"We have received Secretary Duffy's letter setting yet another new deadline and are evaluating MTA's legal options, given that the legal issues raised in the letter are already appropriately before a federal judge. In the meantime, cameras are staying on, and New Yorkers continue to benefit from the first-in-the-nation congestion pricing program - with less traffic, cleaner air, safer streets and a stronger regional economy," MTA Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber said.
The tolls will likely continue to stay in place as the legal battle plays out.
The MTA says there was a 13% drop in vehicular traffic in the congestion pricing zone in March, which the agency credits to congestion pricing.
