{"id":151514,"date":"2026-03-03T20:34:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T20:34:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/151514\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T20:34:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T20:34:09","slug":"judge-blocks-feds-from-stopping-nycs-congestion-pricing-tolls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/151514\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge Blocks Feds from Stopping NYC’s Congestion Pricing Tolls\u00a0\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

A federal judge in Manhattan\u00a0ruled Tuesday that the Trump administration\u2019s\u00a0yearlong\u00a0effort\u00a0to kill New York City\u2019s controversial\u00a0congestion pricing\u00a0toll\u00a0program\u00a0was\u00a0unlawful.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The\u00a0court decision<\/a>\u00a0by U.S. District Court Lewis Liman allows the tolls, which have been collected\u00a0under approvals granted by\u00a0the\u00a0former\u00a0Biden administration, to remain in place. However,\u00a0separate lawsuits from other\u00a0opponents, including the State of New Jersey, are still pending.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe judge\u2019s decision is clear: Donald Trump\u2019s unlawful attempts to trample on the self-governance of his home state have failed spectacularly,\u201d New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said\u00a0in\u00a0\u00a0statement<\/a>\u00a0after the judge\u2019s decision.\u00a0\u201cCongestion pricing is\u00a0legal; it works, and it is here to stay. The cameras are staying on.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Metropolitan Transit Authority\u00a0(MTA)\u00a0launched the nation\u2019s first of its kind tolling program aimed at reducing traffic congestion on Jan. 5, 2025.\u00a0The Trump administration took office later that month and in February\u00a02025\u00a0U.S.\u00a0Transportation Secretary\u00a0Sean\u00a0Duffy\u00a0ordered New York to stop the tolling program or risk the loss of federal funding.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Judge Liman had issued a temporary stay\u00a0that allowed\u00a0the traffic cameras to remain on\u00a0and\u00a0prevented\u00a0the federal government from\u00a0taking action\u00a0against New York\u00a0while the case was pending. His final decision is a victory for the MTA, which\u00a0collected\u00a0$518 million\u00a0in congestion pricing tolls during the first 11 months of 2025\u00a0alone,\u00a0and claims\u00a0traffic has\u00a0decreased by\u00a011%.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Congestion pricing, which is designed to\u00a0raise funds for mass transportation projects, charges most drivers $9 to enter Manhattan south of 60th Street during peak\u00a0daytime\u00a0traffic hours. Trucks pay a much higher rate of $21.60 every time they enter the zone, which\u00a0adds up for a truck making multiple deliveries.\u00a0Tolls are\u00a0lower\u00a0during non-peak evening hours.\u00a0<\/p>\n

New Jersey has opposed congestion pricing\u00a0tolls\u00a0because of the financial burden\u00a0it\u00a0places\u00a0on Garden State commuters as well as\u00a0businesses making deliveries to New York City.\u00a0Former Gov. Phil Murphy also raised\u00a0concerns\u00a0about increased traffic and pollution in New Jersey\u00a0communities\u00a0located\u00a0near New York City\u00a0bridges and tunnels as drivers tried to\u00a0avoid the tolls.\u00a0New Jersey also\u00a0argued that\u00a0federal environmental reviews under the former\u00a0Biden administration\u00a0failed to\u00a0adequately assess\u00a0cross-border impacts on residents and businesses.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Although Judge Liman\u2019s decision does not automatically end New Jersey\u2019s legal case, it strengthens New York\u2019s position\u00a0and could\u00a0make it more difficult for New Jersey to succeed.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A federal judge in Manhattan\u00a0ruled Tuesday that the Trump administration\u2019s\u00a0yearlong\u00a0effort\u00a0to kill New York City\u2019s controversial\u00a0congestion pricing\u00a0toll\u00a0program\u00a0was\u00a0unlawful.\u00a0 The\u00a0court decision\u00a0by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":151515,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[63359,9,56,63,65,64],"class_list":{"0":"post-151514","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-congestion-pricing-tolls","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-ny","11":"tag-nyc","12":"tag-nyc-headlines","13":"tag-nyc-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151514\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}