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The Trump administration said Tuesday that it's not backing off its latest deadline for New York to end its $9 congestion toll on drivers entering the most traffic-snarled parts of Manhattan, despite a recent court filing that indicated the charge would remain at least through the summer.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who called the toll a “slap in the face to working class Americans and small business owners," originally told the state to end the tolling program by March 21. When state officials refused, federal authorities set a new deadline of April 20. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul had said the state intended to ignore that deadline, too.
The dispute headed to federal court in Manhattan, where the Metropolitan Transportation Authority — the regional transit agency — sued Duffy over his February decision to rescind the toll’s federal approval. Congestion pricing advocates say it’s meant to deter drivers and relieve traffic backups while providing billions of dollars for the city’s transit system.
Lawyers for the two sides recently reached an agreement that appeared to slow things down. They proposed a briefing schedule that allows for court filings through the end of July and possibly into October, while government lawyers indicated they wouldn't seek an injunction to stop the tolls while the lawsuit proceeds, according to a joint letter dated Friday and signed by an MTA lawyer to the judge in the case.
But the U.S. Department of Transportation said Tuesday that it wasn't backing off from its immediate demands to end the tolling. In a post on the social platform X, the agency said the April 20 deadline stands.
“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 post said. “The truth is simple agreements on judicial timelines have no bearing on the underlying merits of our case or our position.”
It added, “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.”
Duffy previously suggested that federal funding for New York could be at risk if it didn't end the toll.
The U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan, which represents Duffy in the lawsuit, declined to comment.
The MTA also declined to comment, saying Friday's letter speaks for itself.
The fee started Jan. 5 on most drivers entering Manhattan neighborhoods south of Central Park. It comes on top of tolls drivers already pay to cross bridges and tunnels into Manhattan.
President Donald Trump, whose namesake Trump Tower and other properties are within the congestion zone, vowed to kill the plan as soon as he took office.
