Supporters of congestion pricing won another extension Tuesday — and this time they got a federal judge to order the Trump administration to stop threatening New York.
Judge Lewis Liman, who was appointed by President Donald Trump in his first term, issued a temporary restraining order through June 9. He said for the next two weeks, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy and other top officials are “….enjoined from withholding federal funds” from New York over its traffic plan.
The MTA is banking on revenue from congestion pricing to pay for billions of dollars in subway and bus modernization.
Duffy had threatened to revoke key funding for upcoming projects.
MTA Chairman Janno Lieber said Liman’s ruling takes the pressure off.
“He wants no more coercive threats and punishment if we don’t do what they say,” Lieber said of the judge’s ruling.
Charles Roberts, an attorney for the U.S. government, said in court that “we will comply” with any ruling from the bench.
After previous deadlines to end the nation’s first congestion toll, Duffy granted extensions in March and then again in April.
Roberta Kaplan, an attorney for the MTA, argued that the constant push of threats and shifting deadlines had created a “recipe for chaos.”
Outside the courthouse, local policymakers said even those who initially didn’t like congestion pricing are beginning to see the benefits.
“It’s not the most popular thing. And $9 is a lot for families,” said Carlina Rivera, NYC Council member from the Lower East Side. “Those funds are already coming into the community. We are finally getting elevators at the Delaney/Essex train station.”
