Trump admin insists deadline for ending NYC congestion pricing is still April 20 — despite agreement with MTA
The Trump administration is sticking by its deadline for New York to end congestion pricing — despite an agreement with the MTA that could keep the toll cameras on until the fall.
A US Department of Transportation spokesperson, in a post on an X account, lambasted reports that the feds and MTA officials agreed to keep the $9 tolls at least temporarily in place.
“This is a complete lie by the elitist New York liberal media, whose rich buddies love the idea of pricing poor people out of the city,�the.
“The truth is simple agreements on judicial timelines have no bearing on the underlying merits of our case or our position.�/p>
The DOT’s posturing, made on an X account with roughly 500 followers, hints Trump administration officials will try to pressure Gov. Kathy Hochul and the MTA instead the court of public opinion.
In Manhattan federal court, however, the feds�and the MTA’s respective lawyers jointly penned a filing detailing their agreement on a timetable that seemingly would delay a judge from making a decision on the case until the middle of summer, perhaps even until October.
The letter states DOT officials didn’t dish on whether they’d take action on April 20, the Trump administration’s deadline to end congestion pricing.
But, crucially, the officials also said they had no plans “at present�on seeking an injunction to stop the program �potentially leaving the door open for some future action, the papers showed.
The DOT’s post echoed the combative tone struck by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who set the April 20 deadline in a post that accused Gov. Kathy Hochul of disrespect and threatened to cut off federal funding to the MTA.
“USDOT’s deadline for stopping toll collection has not changed,�it said. “Make no mistake �the Trump Administration and USDOT will not hesitate to use every tool at our disposal in response to non-compliance later this month.�/p>
Duffy has been feuding with Hochul since he announced in February that he would pull federal approval for the first-in-the-nation congestion pricing program.
The governor and MTA officials quickly sued to halt Duffy’s move, prompting a weeks-long back-and-forth during which the transportation secretary has already delayed his deadline once.
“The cameras are staying on,�a spokesperson for the governor told The Post.
“At a time when prices are already through the roof, New York continues to whack Jersey families with their outrageous Congestion Tax — all to bail out the woefully mismanaged MTA,” responded Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) in a statement.
“New York must turn the cameras off and stop sticking it to hardworking Jersey families. I’ll keep fighting to lower costs and make life more affordable.”
“C’mon Kathy Hochul,” Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) told The Post. “It hurts New York and it hurts New Jersey. New York can’t afford to try to do anything that’s gonna hurt their business community — and just the people that commute to New York. It stinks; it’s the wrong thing.”
“The answer for these guys always seems [to be]Â to burden working people, middle class [people] — and that’s just unfair, and it’s onerous. It’s a huge number.”
A DOT spokeswoman added to The Post in response to the statement from the governor’s office: “We plan to take all necessary action after the April 21st deadlineâ€?/p>
