Is Trump going to kill the congestion pricing con – Latest News
President Donald Trump promised to kill congestion-pricing tolls, but his minions simply agreed to a deal doubtless to keep them in place no less than till October. What provides?
In court docket papers, the MTA and the federal Transportation Department signed off on a timeline that’ll stop Judge Lewis Liman, who’s presiding over the legal battle over the Manhattan tolls, from ruling earlier than summer time.
After that, Liman will need more time to resolve legal motions, doubtless dragging out the case till no less than October.
Until then, Trump’s people promised not to search an injunction to halt the program.
Huh?
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A delay till October — and perhaps longer — appears a clear win for Gov. Kathy Hochul and a loss for Trump.
On the marketing campaign path, Trump blasted the tolls as a “disaster” and vowed to finish them his first week.
In February, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy gave Hochul a laborious March 21 deadline to scrap them.
“CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD, Manhattan,” Trump boasted on social media at the time, “and all of New York is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!”
Yet when Hochul flipped Trump a fowl, saying she’d ignore the deadline except a court docket ordered in any other case, Duffy buckled and gave her an further month — even whereas escalating his menace: “Your refusal to end cordon pricing,” he roared, “is unacceptable.”
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Any further failure to comply “will not be taken lightly.”
Now it seems the case gained’t be resolved till no less than the fall, with tolls squeezing one other $50 million a month from drivers in the meantime.
So not solely is congestion not killed, however Albany is now secretly negotiating yet one more tax hike to funnel even more money to the never-satisfied MTA.
True, a DOT flack tweeted out some bluster, insisting the April 20 deadline stays in impact and the company will “use every tool at our disposal in response to non-compliance.”
But what instruments have they got left after kicking the court-fight can into the fall?
It sure looks like Duffy’s employees is uncertain if he has legal authority to stop the toll program.
Which raises the $50 million-a-month query: What will occur on April 20?
Will the tolls stay, as Hochul vows, or will Duffy discover a manner to make good on Trump’s guarantees?
OK: Maybe Team Trump is just stalling on reducing the growth whereas the prez and the gov negotiate; maybe she’ll offer concessions on different fronts (e.g., OK’ing new natural-gas pipelines and/or fracking) in exchange for letting the tolls stay.
But if Hochul stands pat and the tolls stick round, the prez loses credibility.
So: Say it ain’t so, Mr. President — or, higher but, show it.
