By Lindsay Press
President Donald Trump has told Governor Kathy Hochul that she has until March 21 to end the Central Business District Tolling Program (also known as the congestion pricing program). But, Hochul said she will dig in her heels and has no intention of shutting it down.
“Accordingly, NYSDOT and its project sponsors must cease the collection of tolls on Federal-aid highways in the CBDTP area by March 21, 2025,” stated Executive Director Gloria M. Shepherd in a letter to Hochul.
As previously reported by Long Island Life & Politics, Hochul received a letter from U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, telling her to stop the program. Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) Chairman Janno Lieber filed a lawsuit to keep congestion pricing going.
The tolling program charges motorcyclists a fee for driving below 60th Street in Manhattan. Proponents said the program has resulted in less traffic and less air pollution. According to the New York Post, nearly $49 million has been collected so far from the CBDTP.
Hochul planned an “orderly resistance” in response to the Trump administration’s demand, remaining steadfast behind congestion pricing: “We have to fight to keep it going, and that’s why I’m taking it to the courts and I’ll take it wherever I can.”
Hochul and fellow Democrats have argued in favor of keeping congestion pricing, suggesting it will do good things for New York City, in terms of paying for subway repairs and replacing or buying new buses, while several Republicans and New York State residents have argued against congestion pricing, stating it is an unfair tax for everyday commuters.
During a recent appearance on News 12, Assemblyman Jake Blumencranz (R-Hicksville) spoke out in favor of ending congestion pricing, calling it a “ludicrous tax.”
“It is in the best interest of New Yorkers and Long Islanders that we turn off the congestion pricing scheme, that we permanently end it,” Blumencranz said. “It sounds more like the Governor is having desperate defiance here. I mean the Governor herself for political motives turned off congestion pricing during the election season indefinitely only to turn it back on when she realized she was secure.”