The Trump administration renewed its threats against New York over congestion pricing on Monday, demanding that the state halt the tolling plan or risk the loss of federal funding and approvals for other transportation projects.
Sean Duffy, the U.S. secretary of transportation, wrote in a letter addressed to Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York that she had until May 21 to explain why his department should not make good on its threats. Penalties for not ending the toll would begin May 28.
“The federal government sends billions to New York — but we won’t foot the bill if Governor Hochul continues to implement an illegal toll to backfill the budget of New York’s failing transit system,” Mr. Duffy said in the letter. “We are giving New York one last chance to turn back or prove their actions are not illegal.”
The heightened threats come after Governor Hochul and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates the tolling program, twice defied demands to stop the tolls, which began on Jan. 5. The program was approved by the Biden administration in November, after years of planning and review, and some legal experts have argued that the Trump administration does not have the authority to unilaterally revoke its authorization.
Congestion pricing — designed to reduce gridlock, cut pollution and fund critical transit projects — charges most drivers $9 to enter Manhattan below 60th Street during peak traffic times.
The authority and several other parties sued to prevent the Trump administration from interfering with the program almost immediately after a Feb. 19 letter from Mr. Duffy seeking to kill the toll.
The governor’s office and the M.T.A. did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The letter from Mr. Duffy comes a day after his latest deadline, Easter Sunday, came and went with the tolls remaining in place.
The threats include pausing financial support and approval for a number of unspecified construction plans in Manhattan that are funded by the Federal Highway Administration, a division of Mr. Duffy’s department. Safety-related projects would not be affected, Mr. Duffy wrote, but continued noncompliance could lead to funds being withheld from projects elsewhere in the state.
The threat to withhold federal funding could also increase financial pressure on the M.T.A. The authority expects congestion pricing to help raise $15 billion for critical repairs and improvements to the subway, buses and two commuter rail lines. In addition, M.T.A. officials are seeking another $68 billion for the agency’s next five-year capital plan, which is being reviewed by state leaders in Albany.
More than three months after the tolling began, there is evidence that the program is working as intended.
From January to March, about 5.8 million fewer vehicles entered the streets of Manhattan below 60th Street where the tolls are active, compared to the same time period in recent years, representing a 12.5 percent drop in traffic, according to an amended complaint that the authority filed in federal court last week.
The traffic reduction has already translated into noticeably faster commutes, both inside and beyond the tolling zone, according to an analysis of Google data by researchers at the National Bureau of Economic Research, Yale and Stanford.
The threat from the Trump administration is not the first from federal transportation officials. In the 1980s, federal officials briefly threatened to withhold funding for the rehabilitation of the Williamsburg Bridge over safety issues, including whether its lanes were too narrow, recalled Samuel I. Schwartz, a former city traffic commissioner who supports congestion pricing.
But the broad threat from Mr. Duffy over congestion pricing on Monday went much further, Mr. Schwartz said.
“I’ve never seen such a blanket cessation of federal funds threatened,” he said. “This is very serious. Our infrastructure really doesn’t care what goes on in Washington. It will continue to age and crumble.”
Stefanos Chen is a Times reporter covering New York City’s transit system.
Winnie Hu is a Times reporter covering the people and neighborhoods of New York City.
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