Summary
NYC’s congestion pricing program, launched Jan 5 after Biden administration approval, faces new threats from the Trump administration.
Governor Kathy Hochul vows to keep the toll scanners active, deeming Trump’s effort and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s order an attack on the city.
The MTA swiftly filed a legal complaint to uphold the $9 toll, citing reduced traffic and critical funding for mass transit.
Legal experts warn the Trump administration faces an uphill legal battle.
So the king claimed he “fixed something” and then actually nothing had been done?
Color me surprised
“You can’t take American taxpayers who paid for roads and block them out and say you can’t access this unless you pay additional money,” Duffy said in the administration’s defense.
New transportation secretary is not familiar with how tolls work, apparently.
Was about to post the same damn thing.
Toll roads piss me the hell off.
And yet, they’re absolutely critical for keeping public transportation networks (read: roads, highways, trains and busses) functional and operational. The big reason they want this toll gone is because it’ll re-cripple NYC, a “”“liberal stronghold”“” (read: major population center in a blue state) they’ve always hated.
Well if we can’t fund so many roads with taxpayer dollars, maybe we should have less roads and invest in reliable public transport.
We don’t have to live in a world paved over with impermeable surfaces that are only for our multiton death machines that help destroy the planet.
It’s a nice sentiment, but unfortunately we live in a world where public transit infra is scrutinized much harder than roadways. At least with toll roads the extra cost burden isn’t passed onto taxpayers who don’t drive.
I guess I’m saying, instead of building new toll roads, let’s use that money to start fixing it.
Route 90 aka Thruway aka The Highway for tri county residents was to be free after it was paid for. NY never turned the tolls off. Fix that for me Donny.
The first rule of acquisition: “Once you have their money, never give it back.”
Just look at the extra sales tax in Indianapolis, Indiana compared to the rest of the state. The stadium the tax was created to pay for has long since been paid for, retired, bulldozed and replaced.
That was a lie they told you.
They knew the tolls would stay on. Even if the plan at the time was to eventually turn them off.
Out here in San Diego, The Coronado Bay Bridge still has the toll booths from the 1960s. In the early 1990s they finished paying for the bridge, and lifetime maintenance, and haven’t collected a toll since.
aren’t republicans all for small government, states rights?
why arent they protesting this incursion right now?
Oh, right. they stand for nothing.
When you stand for nothing, you fall for everything.
They seem to generally agree on hurting vulnerable people.
And just like that, the wannabe emperor and the local naked guy on the street have something in common.
For someone not from New York, could somebody explain, as I still don’t understand it, why federal government has any say in this, and why trump admin even cares about it?
Basically the license plate and sticker readers are attached to highways. Highways are regulated at the federal level. But approvals were already given and the infrastructure is already in place. So right now the federal government would have to get a favorable court order and then show up themselves to take the infrastructure down. Because the state is just going to ignore him. Which because of the way federal/state powers work is something they can do to an extent.
Some, but not all are. It might add some extra expense but couldn’t they move the readers off of federal highways and onto the exits where they meet state and local roads? Might be worth it to preserve the program if the courts side with the president.
As I understand it, the tolls are levied on land connected to the bridges and tunnels entering New York, which are managed by the federal government, not the city.
It doesn’t, really, although they could try suing. You can always try suing.
I mean, it kind of makes sense. If Trump can say “naw fuck your laws I am king” nothing is really to stop the (edit:
mayor) governor of New York from saying “naw fuck you king, I run this place.”I don’t think it is overall a good development. The breakdown of democracy is not a good thing, even if it is widespread instead of concentrated. But also, it feels like it’s better, the more that people look at what the federal government in its current form has to say about anything and just kind of have a good belly laugh and go back to whatever they felt like doing before.
And if there was one city and state that was waiting for any opportunity to give Trump the middle finger, that would be New York.
Kathy Hochul is the governor of New York state, not the mayor of New York City.
The mayor, Eric Adams, is a blatantly corrupt piece of shit. There’s a quid-pro-quo scandal bigger than Watergate going on between him and Trump right now that’s resulted in mass resignations of DoJ prosecutors (the “Thursday night massacre” last week). It’s a really big deal (probably more damaging to the rule of law even than this congestion pricing thing, and I mod !fuckcars so coming from me that’s saying a lot); you should watch the Legal Eagle video about it.
True that. I knew about the scandal and you are 100% right and the video is excellent. I was just briefly inhabiting a fantasy world where people are treating Trump with the laughter and dismissal that he deserves, and I guess which person holds which office wasn’t a part of my imagining.
The breakdown of democracy is not a good thing
You could argue this is the opposite, the triumph of democracy over fascism. It’s definitely a triumph of the legal system over whims of a tyrant
- Congestion charges were wanted locally, or at least by local officials. They got all their paperwork done, overcame objections, got final approval and got started. Now a tyrant comes in and tries to cancel in personal preference. Ignoring that is a triumph of at least the preferences of the local government over fascism imposed from outside
- Final approval was in place and congestion tolls were being collected. Attempting to stop this out of personal preference, with no votes or requests, no evidence, no due process is not supposed to happen. Laws need stability and reason
Yeah, maybe I should have said it as “the breakdown of adherence to objective norms.” You could make a pretty good argument that those norms are directly in opposition to “democracy,” and the tension between the two is part of what builds a healthy society.
I think you’re misunderstanding this particular situation. Hochul didn’t ignore Trump’s order; he’s going to contest it in court as outside Trump’s legal authority as president.
Yeah, I kind of knew that from glancing at the story. Just let me enjoy my fantasy where the US is not about to fracture and collapse into the sea, amid a big chorus of “But he’s not allowed to do that!”
