New York holds firm against Trump’s congestion pricing deadline

MANHATTAN (CN) — New York is pressing on with its first-in-the nation congestion pricing toll, despite the Trump administration demanding that the program be stopped by Wednesday.

“As Governor Hochul has said time and again, congestion pricing is lawful — and it’s effective,” a spokesperson for New York Governor Kathy Hochul said in a statement to Courthouse News on Wednesday. “Traffic is down, business is up, and the cameras are staying on.”

Last month, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said it was giving the state “one last chance” to end the toll by May 21 or face “serious consequences” from the federal government.

Duffy made the threat after two prior deadlines from President Donald Trump’s Department of Transportation came and went with no effect. This time however, Duffy warned that the federal government would freeze federal approvals for transit projects in Manhattan unless New York either shuts the toll down or “show[s] cause why the Federal Highway Administration should not impose appropriate measures to ensure compliance.”

If the state fails to do that, sanctions could start as soon as May 28, according to a spokesperson for the Transportation Department.

State officials on Wednesday begrudgingly made their case to the Federal Highway Administration, penning a letter — obtained by Courthouse News — in which they slammed Duffy’s order to show cause as a “sham” since he already ordered the congestion pricing’s termination without due process.

“He cannot cure that failure now through a sham exchange of letters,” state transit agencies said in the memo to Richard Marquis, the administrator of the Federal Highway Administration’s New York Division.

Echoing arguments they’ve made in federal court, the agencies added that Duffy has “no authority” to terminate the congestion pricing toll, nor does he have the power to impose consequences against New York for refusing to ax it.

And so far, they say the program is working as intended.

“Indeed, evidence from the program’s initial months shows that traffic in the [Central Business District] is down, vehicle speeds are up (including for public buses), commutes are faster and more reliable, and more people are visiting Manhattan’s commercial districts and supporting the region’s businesses,” the agencies wrote.

Wednesday’s deadline marks the latest entry in a tense standoff between the Trump administration and New York officials over the tolling program, which charges most vehicles a $9 daily toll to enter Manhattan below 60th Street during peak hours on weekdays.

The goal of congestion pricing is to reduce traffic and pollution in the densest part of New York City, as well as raise $1 billion per year for the city’s aging transit infrastructure.

After much delay, the toll finally started in early 2025. But despite its early results looking promising, the Trump administration has long vowed to eliminate it.

Duffy first ordered the program be stopped on Feb. 19, calling it a “slap in the face to working class Americans and small business owners." State transit agencies quickly sued in response, claiming that Duffy and Trump were breaking the law in their effort to stop a lawful state policy they simply didn’t like.

Since then, over multiple threats and deadlines from the administration, state transit agencies have been unwavering in their commitment to keep the toll running unless a court orders them to shut it down.

The lawsuit also sparked tension between the Department of Justice and the Transportation Department after federal attorneys mistakenly docketed an internal memo effectively confirming that Duffy’s demand to ice the program violated due process.

In the memo, the Justice Department attorneys wrote that defending Duffy’s Feb. 19 order would be a “considerable litigation risk” since it was “contrary to law” and “procedurally arbitrary and capricious.” The memo has since been sealed from the public docket after the department admitted uploading it to the public court record was a mistake.

All the while, the program is gaining popularity. A Siena College poll from March showed that only 35% of New York City voters oppose congestion pricing. Three months prior, 56% of city voters opposed it.

Programs like it have existed in cities like London for over a decade. But the issue has been a contentious one in the United States ever since then-Governor Andrew Cuomo signed it into law for New York City in 2019.

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