The Trump administration has pushed again a Friday deadline for New York to finish its new $9 congestion toll on most drivers getting into Manhattan.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Thursday stated he was giving the state an extra 30 days as “discussions continue” on the Republican administration’s demand.
However he additionally lashed out at New York officers, who’ve stated for weeks they didn’t intend to adjust to the deadline as they’ve filed a lawsuit difficult Duffy’s resolution to rescind the toll’s federal approval final month.
“Your refusal to end cordon pricing and your open disrespect towards the federal government is unacceptable,” Duffy wrote in a strongly worded put up on X, previously Twitter. “Know that the billions of dollars the federal government sends to New York are not a blank check. Continued noncompliance will not be taken lightly.”
Spokespersons for Duffy didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark Thursday.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s workplace shrugged off the announcement.
“We’ve seen Secretary Duffy’s tweet, which doesn’t change what Governor Hochul has been saying all alongside: the cameras are staying on,” spokesperson Avi Small stated in an announcement, referring to the system of site visitors cameras used to evaluate the tolls to drivers within the congestion zone.
The payment began Jan. 5 and comes on prime of tolls drivers already pay to cross bridges and tunnels into Manhattan.
It’s meant to assist deter drivers and relieve site visitors congestion whereas additionally offering tens of millions of {dollars} in new income to the town’s beleaguered transit system.
Comparable toll packages have lengthy existed in different cities, together with London, Stockholm, Milan and Singapore, however they’ve by no means been tried earlier than within the U.S.
Trump, whose namesake Trump Tower penthouse and different properties are inside the congestion zone, vowed to cease the toll as quickly as he took workplace.
Duffy, in his resolution to rescind federal approval, known as the payment a “slap in the face to working class Americans and small business owners.”
Janno Lieber, chairman and CEO of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority that administers the toll, vowed earlier this week that the Friday deadline would “come and go” with no adjustments to tolling.
He maintained the Trump administration lacks the authorized authority to revoke approvals granted underneath former President Joe Biden’s administration.
“Nothing is going to change, and we are very confident that there won’t be a rollback of congestion pricing because the program stepped through every hoop on the way to getting that federal approval,” Lieber stated Tuesday at an unrelated occasion in Penn Station. “It can’t be unilaterally rescinded.”
Hochul, in the meantime, has met privately with President Donald Trump a minimum of twice in current weeks to persuade him to drop his opposition to the toll.
State officers have stated the tolling plan is working as supposed.
They are saying hundreds of fewer autos are heading into central Manhattan every day, and commuters who proceed to drive in are seeing shorter drive occasions on bridges, tunnels and busy cross streets.
The toll can also be on monitor to generate roughly $500 million by the tip of the 12 months, permitting deliberate transit enhancements to maneuver ahead, in response to a current MTA report.
“The established order stays, which suggests everybody can proceed to count on much less site visitors, sooner commutes, and safer streets in Manhattan,” MTA spokesperson John McCarthy stated in an announcement Thursday.
This story was initially featured on Fortune.com
