By Victoria Keraj
On Feb. 19, a letter sent by the Secretary of Transportation (SOT), Sean Duffy, to Governor Hochul announced that federal approval for New York’s congestion pricing plan would be revoked. The points made in the letter echo the sentiments made by the plan’s opposition. “I share the President’s concerns about the impacts to working-class Americans who now have an additional financial burden to account for in their daily lives,” Duffy stated in the letter.
President Trump has expressed his disapproval of congestion pricing, previously stating he would do away with it. “I will TERMINATE Congestion Pricing in my FIRST WEEK back in Office!!! Manhattan is looking for business, not looking to kill business!” he posted on Truth Social.
A meeting between Hochul and Trump was originally planned for Feb. 19 to discuss the matter but was called off. On Friday, Feb. 21, Hochul met with Trump at the White House to convince him the plan was working and necessary.
According to Politico, “‘Governor Hochul also presented President Trump with a booklet on the early success of congestion pricing,’” as mentioned by spokesperson Avi Small.
After the meeting, “Hochul left without any commitment from Trump to change his position on congestion pricing,” according to CNN.
Before congestion pricing was originally approved, opponents of the plan held similar sentiments to those in the SOT’s letter. The New York Post reported that “GOP lawmakers told Trump that congestion pricing is a symbol of Hochul and other Empire State politicians’ ‘overreach in every aspect of government,’” when Hochul was considering advancing the plan.
In a statement following the federal decision to rescind congestion pricing approval, Hochul maintained the importance of congestion pricing and that New York would go against the Trump administration’s decision.
“I don’t care if you love congestion pricing or hate it. This is an attack on our sovereign identity, our independence from Washington.” Since the statement, New York has continued to collect tolls. Hochul also announced that the MTA filed a lawsuit against the federal government which continues to affirm the necessity of the program. The lawsuit claims that “[t]he Administration’s efforts to summarily and unilaterally overturn the considered determinations of the political branches—federal, state, and city—are unlawful, and the Court should declare that they are null and void.”
In Hochul’s statement, she described Trump’s actions as being part of a “revenge tour against New York.”
Since becoming president, Trump has made it clear that states that do not comply with new policies will have their federal funding taken away when it comes to issues such as immigration. On the day of Trump’s inauguration, he signed an executive order “to ensure that so-called ‘sanctuary’ jurisdictions, which seek to interfere with the lawful exercise of Federal law enforcement operations, do not receive access to Federal funds.”
Aligning to enforce new immigration policies, the Trump Administration had ordered the case against Mayor Eric Adams to be dropped, as previously reported by The Vanguard.
Many New Yorkers called upon Hochul to use her powers as governor to remove Adams from office after four of his mayoral deputies resigned.
Those against Adams felt betrayed and accused him of trading his seat for a pardon by the president. Reuters states that Adams “[…] endured months of mounting calls for his resignation or removal and Hochul said she had heard from many New Yorkers who feel ‘outraged, hurt, betrayed’ by the mayor.”
At a meeting on Feb. 20, Hochul announced she would not be removing Adams for the time being, but would limit his mayoral powers. In the press statement, she again referenced “[…] the Trump Revenge Tour”.
“Given how aggressive the Trump administration has been, including its attempt yesterday to dismantle a previously approved congestion pricing program, and how deeply disturbing the comments from the President’s Border Czar were,” Hochul stated, “we know they’ll stop at nothing to try and exercise control over New York.”