The Trump administration on Monday gave Gov. Kathy Hochul a new, extended deadline to stop collecting congestion pricing tolls – and warned of “serious consequences” if she continues her defiance.
The letter sent by Department of Transportation Sean Duffy threatens to yank federal funding and approval for projects in Manhattan if congestion pricing continues past the May 21 deadline.
Duffy ominously warned that other Empire State road projects funded by the feds could see their money dry up.
“The corrective measures noted above may be expanded to other geographic areas within the State of New York, if any noncompliance continues,” the letter states.
Duffy’s letter came a day after Hochul and Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials defiantly breezed past his April 20 deadline to stop collecting the $9 tolls.
The White House previously demanded that the MTA end the first-in-the-nation congestion pricing program March 21, prompting the transportation agency to file suit to stop the feds.
The Monday missive also followed President Trump and Duffy effectively booting the MTA from a massive planned revamp of Penn Station.
Hochul had been involved in face-to-face talks with Trump over Penn Station, while she engaged in an escalating feud with Duffy over congestion pricing.
State officials must show that the $9 tolls for driving below 60th Street have either ceased or don’t violate a federal “freedom from tolls” law, the latest letter from Duffy demands.
Duffy argued that the program forces motorists to pay to use federal highways in Manhattan that their tax dollars already funded.
“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,” the letter states.
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