President Trump lambasted Gov. Hochul for “killing the entire region with energy prices” — and threatened to get his transportation secretary to yank her much-hated congestion pricing plan that’s turned the Big Apple into a “ghost town.”
“The entire State is going to hell, so the Federal Government will, of necessity, get involved!” Trump railed on Truth Social one day before the high-stakes New York City mayoral election.
President Donald Trump tore into Gov. Kathy Hochul over congestion pricing on Monday. AP
In his Truth Social post, Trump claimed Hochul is “killing the entire region.” Truth Social / @realDonaldTrump
The commander in chief took aim at Hochul’s congestion pricing — which charges drivers up to $27 in fees just to enter Manhattan — which she’s claimed would reduce traffic and clean up the air.
“New York City is getting KILLED by her ridiculous CONGESTION PRICING, where people have to pay a fortune to come into Manhattan – So they just don’t come!” the president ranted about the highly unpopular tax scheme that took effect in January.
“The place is a ghost town,” he fumed.
“I am going to ask our Transportation Secretary, Sean Duffy, to take a good, long look at terminating New York City Congestion Pricing.”
Duffy in February wrote a letter to Hochul notifying her he was pulling federal approval of the program, which he called “a slap in the face to working-class Americans and small business owners.”
“I am going to ask our Transportation Secretary, Sean Duffy, to take a good, long look at terminating New York City Congestion Pricing,” Trump added in his post. Stefano Giovannini
President Trump at the time hailed congestion pricing as “DEAD” on Truth Social.
The administration demanded the MTA stop collecting the tolls on March 21, but Duffy announced a 30-day extension before the deadline expired as negotiations continued.
In response, the MTA almost immediately countersued the feds, dismissing the Trump administration’s order as a “royal decree.”
Matthew McDermott
A Hochul spokesperson said defiantly at the time in response, “the cameras are staying on.”
Then in May, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order preventing the DOT from canceling the toll and enforcing any of the punitive “compliance measures” previously laid out in its demands to kill the program until at least June 9.
As a result of the TRO, the congestion pricing program is still active and the toll continues to be collected to this day.
Trump further blamed Hochul for “killing the entire region” with “OUT OF CONTROL and expected to TRIPLE because she can’t get an Upstate, and, separately, Long Island PIPELINE built,” he said in reference to the failed Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) project, an expansion of a Williams Companies national gas pipeline meant to increase capacity in the New York City area.
“All of Connecticut, including its Governor, and New England, are REALLY ANGRY AT HER.”