House Republicans pledge full court press against NYC congestion pricing as they wait to see if Trump fulfills vow to TERMINATE tolls
New York House Republicans plan to attack congestion pricing from “every avenue,” with the aim to kill the contentious toll program that president-elect Donald Trump has vowed to “TERMINATE” from the White House.“We’re looking at every avenue from the executive, to the legislative, to the judiciary, to kill this because it’s bulls–t,” Hudson Valley Rep.Mike Lawler told The Post Friday.
“It’s a scam.”The promised full court press in Congress, the courts and federal bureaucracy against congestion pricing follows Gov.Kathy Hochul’s announcement Thursday that she’d revive the program charging cars to enter Manhattan below 60th Street a $9 toll starting in the New Year.The toll will be increased to $12 by 2028, and spike to the originally-planned $15 after 2031, according to the governor’s office.
Lawler’s all-out effort against the tolls has also extended to the internet: The potential 2026 gubernatorial candidate, launched the website “congestionpricingsucks.com” Friday that argued Hochul is asking motorists to “bail out the MTA for their crappy budgeting.” “This congestion pricing scheme is nothing more than a massive new tax on working families, daily commuters, college students, and local residents who just want to travel within the city they call home,” the site states.A senior GOP aide said if Hochul’s plan forges ahead before the new Congress convenes on Jan.3, 2025, a bipartisan group of lawmakers are prepared to immediately introduce and pass legislative fixes to withhold federal funds to New York.“I would expect it to happen in the first six months of the year,” the aide said, pointing out it “could be sooner” but that would depend on whether Trump takes any executive action.The governor’s announcement was met by praise from congestion pricing supporters unhappy with her last-minute decision in the summer to put the plan on “pause,” as well as a thunderous renewed outcry from opponents, including...