Transport Secretary Sean Duffy threatened to refund the project if the state continues to collect $9 tolls to enter Manhattan.
A federal judge has temporarily banned the federal government from continuing to punish New York’s state’s congestion price by continuing to sacrifice New York’s congestion congestion sacrifices and shutting it down.
The toll aims to reduce traffic congestion and bring an estimated $15 billion to the Metropolitan Transportation Agency (MTA). It adds to what drivers already pay to use bridges and tunnels to reach Manhattan.
President Donald Trump vowed to close tolls from the beginning of his second term. In February, he directed the Department of Transportation to revoke federal approval of tolls approved by the Federal Highways Agency’s pilot program.
Transport Secretary Sean Duffy wrote to New York Governor Kathy Hockle in a February 12 letter:
Less than an hour after Duffy issued the letter, the MTA filed a lawsuit against the Transportation Agency, accusing the Trump administration of trying to end its “blatantly political reasons” plan.
Related Stories
The lawsuit also argued that by suddenly terminating the toll, the MTA would be liable to pay off its approximately $1.4 billion in debt.
After the MTA chose to file a lawsuit rather than complying, Duffy gave a deadline of March 21 to close the toll. That deadline was later extended until April 20th and again until May 21st.
With the latest warning, Duffy’s department either ends its distribution program to the state until May 28, or maintains money and regulatory approval for federal funded road projects to the Federal Highways Agency, starting with payment freezes for many highway and transport accessibility projects.
“President Trump and I have not sat while Governor Hochul is engaged in working-class Americans of class war and price from access to New York City,” Duffy said in an April statement. “The federal government will send billions of dollars to New York, but if Governor Hochul continues to make illegal sacrifices to fill New York’s failed transport system budget, he will not make a bill.”
In a statement to the Epoch Times, the Department of Transport emphasized that Tuesday’s order would not control the merits of the incident, but was a temporary measure to give more time to reach a decision.
“Enforcement action for violations is merely under consideration and we will comply with the judge’s request for retention,” a department spokesperson said.
“While Secretary Duffy can publish as many letters and social media posts as he wishes, the court has halted retaliation against New York as the Trump administration reduced traffic and invested in transportation,” the governor said Tuesday.
