Trump Administration Denies Reports of Deal Allowing New York To Keep Congestion Tax

The federal Department of Transportation is calling a report that the Trump administration reached a deal to keep congestion pricing in place at New York City another six months a “complete lie.”CBS New York reported Monday that the Metropolitan Transit Authority, which runs New York City’s subways and charges the new $9 toll to drive into Midtown and Lower Manhattan, had reached an agreement that will keep the new tolls in place through October.The tax charges drivers the extra $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 is $2.25.President Trump vowed to kill the toll during the campaign and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called it a “slap in the face to working class Americans” when he announced that federal approval of the program was being rescinded.A March 21 deadline for New York to stop charging the tolls was later extended to April 20. After New York said it would ignore the deadline and continue to charge the fee, the battle moved to the courts. The schedule for court filings could stretch into the fall.The CBS report stated that the tolls would remain in place until then, but the Trump administration is signaling that there will be no further delays regardless of the court filings to this month’s deadline to turn off the tolling.“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 USDOT’s Rapid Response X account posted Tuesday afternoon. “USDOT’s deadline for stopping toll collection has not changed. 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.”It called any talk of delays “fake news.”Mr. Duffy has previously threatened that federal aid to New York could be pulled if the tolls remain. “Continued noncompliance will not be taken lightly,” he warned.At stake is billions of dollars a year of federal funding for the city’s subway system and other public transport. The New York City Comptroller says the agency is counting on more than $13 billion in federal funds over the next five years to keep the system afloat.The MTA claims the congestion pricing program has dramatically reduced congestion and hopes to collect an additional $1 billion a year in taxes from it to help offset deficits in the city’s mass transit systems.Governor Hochul claims support for the program is “growing every day” when she announced the court challenge to the Department of Transportation. “We are a nation of laws, not ruled by a king,” she said. “The MTA has initiated legal proceedings in the Southern District of New York to preserve this critical program. We’ll see you in court.”

Trump Administration Denies Reports of Deal Allowing New York To Keep Congestion Tax

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