New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) is risking losing federal government funding after she refused to comply with President Donald Trump’s demand to shut down Manhattan’s congestion toll.
The Trump administration’s Department of Transportation gave Hochul and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority until Sunday to shut down its $9 congestion toll, but the governor and MTA officials refused.
‘The federal government sends billions to New York — but we won’t foot the bill if the state continues to implement an illegal toll to backfill the budget of New York’s failing transit system.’
In February, the MTA filed a lawsuit against the White House, seeking to block it from ending the toll program. The state’s Department of Transportation and New York City joined the complaint against the administration last week.
“The President is not a king, and Defendants have no right to demand compliance with the Administration’s unlawful directives,” the lawsuit read. “Plaintiffs will continue to operate the Program as required by New York law unless and until Plaintiffs are directed to stop by a court order.”
Despite the court filing, Trump’s DOT stated that it still expected New York to comply with its deadline on April 20.
“USDOT will continue to fight for working-class Americans whose tax dollars have already funded and paid for these roads,” the department stated.
On Saturday, U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) told the New York Post that the White House “needs to come up with some type of penalization for not complying.”
“Maybe they want to look at withholding certain federal funds, for projects within Manhattan, within the congestion zone. Maybe the Second Avenue subway [expansion project], for example,” she stated.
The Trump administration appeared to take Malliotakis’ advice after Hochul declared, “The cameras are staying on.”
MTA chief of policy and external relations John McCarthy told the Post, “In case there were any doubts, MTA, State, and City reaffirmed in a court filing that congestion pricing is here to stay and that the arguments [USDOT] Secretary [Sean] Duffy made trying to stop it have zero merit.”
After New York breezed past the Sunday deadline, Duffy sent a letter to Hochul warning of “serious consequences” for continuing to impose the tolls.
Duffy gave the state’s DOT until May 21 to either stop the congestion fines or demonstrate how it did not violate the law. He noted that if the Federal Highway Administration finds that the state has broken the law or fails to respond, the federal government could pull funding for state road projects beginning on May 28.
He stated in a post on X, “The federal government sends billions to New York — but we won’t foot the bill if the state continues to implement an illegal toll to backfill the budget of New York’s failing transit system.”
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