Trump, Eyeing New York Area Voters, Emerges as the Loudest Voice Against Congestion Pricing

President Trump is emerging as the loudest voice opposing New York City’s congestion pricing. Proponents of the new toll, set to whack commuters who venture below 60th Street in Manhattan, are confident it will overcome legal challenges to go into effect on June 30. By coming out against it, though, Mr. Trump may put the issue on the ballot.Mr. Trump, as I wrote in the Sun last month, plans to campaign for the Empire State. He’ll also be stumping next-door in New Jersey on Saturday, where residents who commute into Manhattan are frustrated with congestion pricing. They balk at the cost and fear that the plan will shift Gotham’s traffic and pollution to their backyards.“I can’t believe,” the Queens-born Mr. Trump posted Tuesday on Truth Social, “that New York City is instituting Congestion Pricing, where everyone has to pay a fortune for the ‘privilege’ of coming into the City, which is in desperate trouble without it.”Mr. Trump’s objections echo those of the Sun in July. “As Gotham struggles to recover from Covid,” our editorial stated, “it’s hard to imagine a worse idea” than this “money grab.” Identifying the local discontent the former president seeks to harness, the Sun cited “an unusual coalition of New Jersey Democrats and New York Republicans” uniting to stop the scheme and “save” the city’s economy.Mr. Trump called the congestion tax “a big incentive not to come” into Manhattan. “There are plenty of other places to go,” he wrote. In a nod to the fact that congestion pricing is a first in America, the former president called it “a failure everywhere it has been tried.”Congestion pricing, Mr. Trump wrote, “would only work if a place were HOT, HOT, HOT, which New York City is not right now. What office tenant or business would want to be here with this tax? Hopefully, it will soon be withdrawn!” Next, look for him to point out that President Biden gave the plan a green light in May.Weekdays between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. — and weekends 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. — private passenger vehicles will pay $15 to enter the Central Business District. Trucks, depending on size, will cough up $24 or $36, and motorcycles $7.50. Rideshare services will get dinged $2.50 and Gotham’s ubiquitous yellow cabs $1.25. The fees fall about 75 percent in off-peak hours.A handful of drivers qualify for exemptions. According to New York City’s official website, these include emergency vehicles such as ambulances and fire trucks, school buses “contracted by the NYC Department of Education and “commute vans licensed by the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission.”While there will be no blanket exemption for residents who live in the Central Business District, the city’s website states that those “who have a state-adjusted gross income of under $60,000 will be eligible for a state tax credit for any congestion pricing tolls paid.”Low-income drivers will be gifted a 50 percent discount after their first 10 trips each month. Those with “disabilities or health conditions that prevent them from using transit” are exempt. Even with these free rides, the Metropolitan Transit Authority projects taking enough money from other drivers to accrue a $3.4 billion windfall.The Democratic congressman, Joshua Gottheimer — representing the New Jersey district where the George Washington Bridge connects to Manhattan — says congestion pricing will cost drivers $5,000 a year. Most of that cash will be shaken from the wallets of the able-bodied, Middle Class working stiffs whom Mr. Trump has proven adept at attracting to his banner.“We’re very close in New York,” Mr. Trump told reporters after a meeting with union construction workers last month. After basking in praise from the hard hats, he predicted, “I think we’re going to do very well, and we’re going to make a play for New York.”By focusing attention on congestion pricing, Mr. Trump can force Democrats to defend electoral votes and House seats in deep-blue strongholds. Expect the “money grab” to be one of the Tri-State Area’s hottest political issues this summer — and for the 45th president to rev up the outrage as he races for the White House.

Trump, Eyeing New York Area Voters, Emerges as the Loudest Voice Against Congestion Pricing

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