NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) -- Justice Department lawyers in Manhattan recently urged the US Transportation Department to shift tactics as it tries to topple New York City’s congestion pricing program in court.
In an April 11 recommendation letter that briefly appeared on the court website Wednesday, government lawyers expressed doubt that federal courts would back DOT Secretary Sean Duffy’s repeated arguments that the toll isn’t legal. Instead, they urged the administration to switch their strategy to argue that the toll no longer aligns with the agency’s goals.
The letter, which has since been removed, drew a strong rebuke by the Transportation Department. The agency has argued that the program violates federal regulations because it doesn’t offer a non-tolled alternative.
“It is very unlikely that Judge Liman or further courts of review will uphold the Secretary’s decision on the legal grounds,” three assistant US Attorneys wrote in their April 11 correspondence.
The $9 toll on drivers entering some of Manhattans busiest streets has led to a showdown between New York officials and President Donald Trump. The MTA sued the administration after Duffy announced in a Feb. 19 letter a reversal of federal approval for the toll, even thought it had started on Jan. 5.
To stop the congestion pricing program, the DOT should instead use Office of Management and Budget guidelines that allow the termination of an agreement if it no longer fits with an agency’s goals, according to the April 11 letter.
OMB rules would permit the DOT to end the congestion pricing program “for the Secretary’s stated reasons, but would do so as a matter of changed agency priorities,” the lawyers argued.
A spokesperson for the Manhattan US Attorney’s Office declined to comment. A spokesperson for the Department of Transportation said in a statement that the April 11 letter that was taken down was “legal malpractice” that doesn’t represent “reality.”
Governor Kathy Hochul’s “congestion pricing war against the working class was hastily approved by the Biden Administration after Donald Trump was elected,” a DOT spokesperson said in a statement. “Taxpayers already financed the highways that Hochul is now shutting down to the driving public and there is no free alternative.”
The letter was later followed by a different piece of correspondence dated Wednesday — from the same Manhattan attorneys and Interim US Attorney Jay Clayton, whom Trump tapped to lead the Manhattan US Attorney’s office. They told the judge that “the agency decision-making process is ongoing.”
The MTA has widely viewed the congestion pricing program as a success, taking cars and trucks off Manhattan’s busiest streets. About 5.8 million fewer vehicles entered the tolled zone from January through March, helping to alleviate traffic, according to MTA data.
Duffy on Monday told Governor Hochul and the MTA to end the toll by May 21 or the DOT would stop future federal approvals for transportation projects in Manhattan and may also withhold funding. MTA officials have said they won’t halt the fee unless a court orders it.
Most motorists pay the $9 charge during peak hours to enter into the tolling district, which runs from 60th Street to the bottom of the island.