Another Trump NYC congestion pricing deadline passes with MTA tolling intact
Wednesday was the latest of three deadlines laid out by U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who has demanded that New York stop tolling drivers who enter Midtown and lower Manhattan — a toll required in order to fund MTA capital projects under a 2019 state law.
The MTA is currently litigating the matter in Manhattan Federal Court, where transit officials have argued that the federal demands to change state policy are unconstitutional.
A source close to Gov. Hochul Wednesday said the governor would soon be informing the feds that, absent a court order to the contrary, the toll would remain in place.
The brinksmanship — with Hochul repeatedly saying the toll will stay as Duffy repeatedly threatens the Empire State's funding — has marked a three-month showdown between state and federal power over whether the state of New York can enforce it's own democratically decided transportation policies.
Last month — when his second deadline expired — Duffy said he was 'giving New York one last chance to turn back or prove their actions are not illegal,' setting a deadline for Wednesday.
Past that, he said, his department would not authorize federal funds for any highway project in Manhattan, would refuse to approve Manhattan projects under the National Environmental Policy Act, and would refuse to greenlight any funding amendments from the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council — unless any of those projects involve safety.
Should New York's 'noncompliance' continue, he went on, he'll defund projects citywide.
The MTA gets approximately $2.5 billion in federal dollars each year, almost entirely as reimbursements through federal formula grants, though Duffy's April threat indicated other agencies — such as the city and state departments of transportation — could lose funding as well.
Previous deadlines were accompanied by an eleventh-hour extension and an admonishment from Duffy that there would be consequences for New York should it keep the toll in place. No such statements had been made as of Wednesday afternoon, neither by Duffy nor USDOT's press team. A USDOT spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Duffy first claimed to be able to end the toll by revoking an already-granted federal authorization in February, weeks after New York began tolling drivers in an implementation of the state's 2019 Traffic Mobility Act, which required the toll as a means of funding a specific list of MTA transit projects.
The MTA promptly sued, calling the revocation unconstitutional.
In response, Duffy set a March 21 deadline for ending the toll before extending the deadline to April 20, then to May 21.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
a day ago
- New York Post
Hochul blames ‘lack of investments' for MTA's hellish service meltdowns, even as bloated transit agency eyes fare hike to $3
Just throw more money at the problem! Gov. Kathy Hochul on Friday blamed decades-long 'lack of investments' in subway infrastructure for hellish service meltdowns this week amid stifling heat and torrential downpours — even as she directed MTA officials to conduct a 'pretty much full review' of the issues. Hochul, standing alongside Metropolitan Transportation Authority honcho Janno Lieber, acknowledged the repeated failures had left straphangers running late or frustrated. 4 Gov. Kathy Hochul, in a press conference, addressed the reasons for the subway meltdowns this week were due to a 'lack of investments' in subway infrastructure. Matt Roberts/Shutterstock 'I don't want any person to feel as if they aren't getting first-rate service, so I've directed Janno and his team to provide a pretty much full review of what occurred this week,' she said. Power outages at the West Fourth Street station during the morning commute on both Tuesday and Thursday caused travel nightmares for thousands of subway-riders, some of whom vowed to jump turnstiles to steal back their lost time. Hochul already appeared primed to point the finger at the 'lack of investments' in the subway system, despite the MTA raking ever-increasing billions of dollars over decades for infrastructure improvements, imposing a $9 congestion pricing toll and, this week, eyeing a fare increase to $3. The governor even touted the MTA's latest, record-breaking $68.4 billion capital plan for 2025-2029 as a step forward in fixing the infrastructure woes, specifically for electrical upgrades. 'That's why we're continuing the investments, $4 billion to upgrade the electrical system,' Hochul said during an unrelated press conference. The MTA plans to spend the $4 billion on power and electricity components over the next five years, according to the capital plan. This includes around $3 billion specifically for the system's 224 substations and 317 circuit breaker houses. 4 Multiple station outages occurred during the stifling heat and torrential thunderstorm that hit the Big Apple, including at West Fourth Street on Tuesday and Thursday. Oliya Scootercaster/FreedomNewsTV But even after the upgrades planned for in the most recent capital plan are complete, the MTA estimates a little more than a quarter, 27%, of substations will still be in poor or marginal condition, per the plan. 'I'm very annoyed,' Kate Whitman, a 26-year-old creative executive, said Friday, lamenting the proposed $3 fare. The shoddy subway service this week forced Whitman to shell out $80 in Ubers heading to work in Brooklyn and back from her West Village home. But she said she has been late to work multiple times because of poor subway service even before the troubles. 'I know the system is severely outdated. It's very obvious that it would be an extensive audit required, but, like, it's very clear that the money isn't being used very wisely at all.' 4 Commuters were frustrated, which even led to one subway rider shelling out up to $80 for Uber rides to get to their workplace and later on back home. Oliya Scootercaster/FreedomNewsTV MTA officials have sounded alarm bells in recent years about the subway system's decaying, often-century-old infrastructure. The budget for the transit agency's capital plan in 2000-2004 stood at just shy of $22 billion — and has only increased for each subsequent five-year cycle, records show. On-time performance during 2017 — which featured the notorious 'summer of hell' — hit a dismal 63%, data shows. Since then, on-time performance has improved significantly, hitting 89% in 2020. But that coincided with a nosedive in ridership because of the coronavirus pandemic, with total annual ridership in 2024 at about 1.2 billion — compared to roughly 1.7 billion each year before COVID, according to data. Lieber on Friday argued the subway system bounced back quickly from Thursday's torrential rainfall, noting all lines were back in service the next morning. He said the electrical issues at West Fourth Street will be addressed by the recent capital plan. 'You're talking about 100-year-old electrical infrastructure, cloth-covered wires that are from our great-grandparents era that nobody went to update, and we just can't live with that anymore,' he said. In 2020, only 60% of substations were in a state of good repair. But despite spending a massive $2.6 billion from 2020 to 2024 to improve electrical infrastructure, that number only improved to 64% of substations being in a state of good repair. 4 Metropolitan Transportation Authority honcho Janno Lieber said the subway resumed with regular service on Friday. James Messerschmidt Substations during that period appeared to be deteriorating faster than MTA crews could fix them. The widespread transit woes — including yet more flooding in the subways — this week only highlighted the mixed results from the MTA's spending. But Lieber was quick to note that the MTA's measures of subway and commuter train rider satisfaction have greatly increased this year. 'Customer satisfaction with subways is up 8%, Long Island Rail Road is up is up 5%, Metro-North is up 4%,' he said. 'Customers before this week — and you know, this week has definitely taken a hit on customer satisfaction — are recognizing the improvements that have taken place. We have to get them back to that level of comfort.' Not everyone was buying it. 'New Yorkers pay a dizzying number of taxes and fees towards the MTA and, yet, they can't even keep the power on,' said state Sen. Jim Skoufis (D-Orange). 'Until their leadership brings radical reform to the system – and stops depending on annual bailouts from Albany – taxpayers will continue getting ripped off and riders will continue to be let down with substandard transit.' Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island) highlighted the issues by posting a clip showing straphangers climbing on subway gates to avoid flooding. 'Pathetic!' she wrote.
CBS News
a day ago
- CBS News
NYC Interborough Express enters design phase for Brooklyn-Queens light rail
The Interborough Express, New York City's first light rail system which would link Brooklyn and Queens, is another step closer to becoming a reality. Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Friday the project to build the nation's busiest light rail system has entered the engineering and design phase. Renderings provide a glimpse into the future of transit between two of New York's most-populated, yet underserved communities. "A clean, fast, 14-mile light rail line. A connection between Brooklyn and Queens like never before. We're calling it the Interborough Express, IBX," Hochul said. The plan has been discussed for more than 30 years. But it's now moving into the next phase. "This means a lot of planning is going to occur. Looking at the stations, tracks, vehicles, signals, so we can get shovels in the ground and make this become a reality," the governor said. Hochul approved $2.75 billion in funding for the project back in April. It's aimed at reducing the travel time between Brooklyn and Queens to 32 minutes for more than 1 million New Yorkers and other commuters. "One of the things I love best about this project is that we get to get more transit out of the infrastructure we have," MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said. The IBX light rail would extend from Sunset Park, Brooklyn, to Jackson Heights, Queens, with a total of 19 new stations connecting to 17 subway lines. They would be the first new transit stations in Brooklyn since 1948 and Queens since 1988. The MTA is now coming up with an underground design for Metropolitan Avenue in Queens to, hopefully, make the area less prone to delays. "I think it would be great because the commute sometimes gets a little busy," Louisa Brenya, of Queens, said. Diana Arboleda, of Jackson Heights, is all too familiar with the current lengthy and inconvenient ways to get to Brooklyn from her home. "It's a hassle," she said. "This would help me a lot because the commute is time consuming," Kasheen Buckner, of Brooklyn, said. IBX is expected to become the busiest light rail system in the country, with 48 million riders annually.
Chicago Tribune
a day ago
- Chicago Tribune
Russian and US space chiefs meet to discuss continued cooperation
MOSCOW — Russia's space chief has visited the United States to discuss plans for continued cooperation between Moscow and Washington on the International Space Station and lunar research with NASA's acting chief, the first such face-to-face meeting in more than seven years. Dmitry Bakanov, the director of the state space corporation Roscosmos, met Thursday with NASA's new acting administrator, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, on a visit to attend the planned launch of a U.S.-Japanese-Russian crew to the space station. The launch was delayed by weather until Friday, when it blasted off successfully. Roscosmos said Bakanov and Duffy discussed 'further work on the International Space Station, cooperation on lunar programs, joint exploration of deep space and continued cooperation on other space projects.' Once bitter rivals in the space race during the Cold War, Roscosmos and NASA cooperated on the space station and other projects. That relationship was beset with tensions after Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in 2022, but Washington and Moscow have continued to work together, with U.S. and Russian crews continuing to fly to the orbiting outpost on each country's spacecraft. Plans for broader cooperation, including possible Russian involvement in NASA's Artemis program of lunar research, have fallen apart. As Russia has become increasingly reliant on China for its energy exports and imports of key technology amid Western sanctions, Roscosmos has started cooperation with China on its prospective lunar mission. Speaking to Russian reporters after the talks with Duffy, Bakanov said that they agreed to keep working on keeping the space station in operation to the end of the decade. 'Our experts will now start working on those issues in details,' Bakanov said, praising Duffy for giving a green light for those contacts 'despite geopolitical tensions.' The Russian space chief added that he and Duffy will report the results of the meeting to Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump to secure their blessing for potential space cooperation. 'In view of the difficult geopolitical situation, we will need to receive the necessary clearance from the leaders of our countries,' Bakanov said. He added he invited Duffy to visit Moscow and the Russia-leased Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan for the launch of another Russia-U.S. crew to the space station scheduled for November. 'I will put my efforts into keeping the channel of cooperation between Russia and the U.S. open, and I expect NASA to do the same,' Bakanov said.
