Trump makes another run at killing off NYC congestion pricing

Evan Simko-Bednarski, New York Daily News on May 1, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

NEW YORK — The Trump administration signaled a renewed effort to end New York’s congestion pricing program Friday, filing an intent to appeal a March decision in Manhattan Federal Court that found federal efforts to curb the program were “an abuse of discretion.”

The two-page memo, filed midday Friday by attorneys with Trump’s Department of Justice, provided no information aside from an intent to appeal the case to the 2nd Circuit.

“All Defendants hereby appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from this Court’s Final Judgment,” the attorneys wrote. As of midday Friday, no appeal was yet on file.

In his March decision, Federal Judge Lewis Liman of the Southern District of New York wrote that U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy’s actions were “arbitrary and capricious, an abuse of discretion, and not in accordance with law” when he claimed to have withdrawn the federal government’s approval for New York’s congestion tolling program in the early weeks of Trump’s presidency.

“An unelected administrative agency may not make decisions affecting large segments of the public based on what comes to mind at the moment,” Liman wrote in March. “It must engage in reasoned decision making.”

The ruling was a win for the MTA, which under state law administers the toll and uses the proceeds to back a $15 billion bond issuance for major capital projects.

The congestion toll, which is set at $9 once a day for ordinary cars, applies to drivers entering Manhattan’s local streets at or below 60th Street, and is discounted for drivers who already paid at any of the tolled river crossings into the congestion zone.

MTA’s chief of policy and external relations, John McCarthy, said Friday he was confident the MTA would win again on appeal.

“Congestion pricing is working – fewer cars, less pollution, faster commutes,” McCarthy said in a statement. “Secretary Duffy has already lost in court and if he wants to see us there again, let’s go.”

The transit agency sued Duffy in February, after the secretary said the toll — which had been subject to a multiyear review under the Biden administration — was no longer approved.

“I have concluded that the scope of this pilot project as approved exceeds the authority authorized by Congress,” Duffy wrote at the time.

Following Liman’s ruling in March, a USDOT spokesperson called the toll part of the “Green New Scam” making “federally funded roads inaccessible to commuters without providing a toll-free alternative.”

_____