A federal judge while blocking Trump’s administrative efforts to force New York City to end his congestion pricing program.
Judge Lewis Liman gave a temporary detention order on Tuesday which prohibited the Trump government from holding back “federal funds, approval, or authorization from the state of New York or local institutions to uphold compliance” with its demands to end the toll program. This order is valid until 9 June.
This development occurred after the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates the toll program, requests a court order to prevent the federal government to resist approval or funds to continue to collect tolls after the US Transportation Department is reversed and withdraws federal approval from the initial traffic jam -pricing program.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul praised the judge’s order as “victory” for New York in the battle for the determination of the price of traffic jams, saying it blocking Trump’s administration from “retaliation against New York” because it continued the program, which was the first of its kind in the country.
“The temporary detention of judge five is a big victory for New York passengers, confirmed our rights as a country to make decisions about what is best for our paths,” Hochul said in a Tuesday statement. “New York residents deserve to control our own traffic patterns, keep traffic jams from our streets and protect our clean air. We need to make the large -magnitude investment needed to support our transit system and prevent it from falling into chaos and damage. The price of congestion is the right solution to bring us there.”
“The price of congestion is legal, it works and we still use the camera,” he added.
The Transportation Department attracts federal approval from the congestion price determination program on February 19, a few weeks after it came into force, after the review requested by President Donald Trump. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said at that time that “the scope of the pilot project as approved exceeds the authority permitted by the congress” under the pilot program determining the price of federal administrative values while calling it “withdrawing and unfair.”
E-Zpass readers and plate scan cameras were seen at 42nd Street in Manhattan on February 19, 2025 in New York City.
Hit by betak/viewpress/corbis via getty images
MTA immediately challenged Trump’s administrative reversal in the federal court, looking for a declaratory decision that the pacifier step was not right. Hochul’s chairs and CEOs and MTA Janno Lieber said they would not turn off the toll road without a court order.
Duffy extended the deadline for New York to end the toll collection several times, recently warning Last month that the administration of the federal highway will take action to “improve the non -compliance of New York,” such as deduction of approval or funds for other transportation projects, “starting May 28 if it does not stop determining the price of congestion.
Duffy has not openly commented on the judge’s orders on Tuesday.
In a response to the MTA Moti who was looking for a preliminary order, Duffy’s advisor argued that the request had to be rejected because New York could not show unwilling losses “because of the premature nature of all these disputes” for the proposed compliance steps. “Critically, FHWA has not decided to impose this proposed compliance ‘or’ potential ‘,” they wrote.
The plan to determine the price of congestion, which was launched on January 5, charged the cost of a $ 9 passenger vehicle to access Manhattan under 60th street during busy hours as part of efforts to alleviate congestion and raise funds for the city public transportation system. During peak hours, small trucks and charter buss were charged $ 14.40 and large trucks and tour buses paid $ 21.60.
Tolls produce nearly $ 50 million in revenue in the first month and are on the track to generate $ 500 million in net income by the end of this year, as was originally projected, MTA said.