NEW YORK — The Trump administration has given New York another month to cease its congestion toll after the state ignored a Sunday deadline to shut down the $9 fee for most drivers coming into the busiest part of Manhattan.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, in a Monday letter to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, said the state risks losing federal funding and approvals for certain projects from the Federal Highway Administration.
The missive gives New York officials another 30 days to stop collecting the toll – or at least explain why they’re not breaking the law by continuing with the program after the government revoked its federal approval in February.
“The federal government sends billions to New York – but we won’t foot the bill if Governor Hochul continues to implement an illegal toll to backfill the budget of New York’s failing transit system,” Duffy said in a statement after issuing the letter. “We are giving New York one last chance to turn back or prove their actions are not illegal.”
Hochul’s office didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment Monday. Spokespersons for the Democrat and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the state agency overseeing the tolls, confirmed Sunday that its system of traffic cameras continues to collect the fee assessed on most cars entering the borough below Central Park.
The fee, which began Jan. 5, is meant to reduce traffic jams and raise billions of dollars in revenue for New York’s subways, commuter trains and public buses.
But President Donald Trump, a native New Yorker whose namesake Trump Tower and other properties are within the congestion zone, had vowed to kill the plan as soon as he took office.
After first rescinding federal approval earlier this year, Duffy called the program “a slap in the face to working class Americans and small business owners,” and initially gave New York until March 21 to stop charging the toll.
The MTA challenged Duffy’s decision in federal court and Duffy subsequently pushed the deadline back by a month, to April 20.
The toll varies depending on type of vehicle and time of day and comes on top of tolls drivers already pay to cross bridges and tunnels into Manhattan.
Drivers of most passenger cars pay $9 to enter Manhattan south of Central Park on weekdays between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. and on weekends between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. During off hours, the toll will be $2.25 for most vehicles.
Other big cities around the world, including London and Stockholm, have long had similar fees to reduce traffic congestion.
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Follow Philip Marcelo at twitter.com/philmarcelo.
