NYC congestion pricing latest: Judge temporarily blocks Trump administration from ending program

A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from killing New York’s congestion pricing toll or carrying out retaliatory threats to withhold transportation funding unless the state capitulates.

Ruling from the bench, Judge Lewis J. Liman of U.S. District Court for the Southern District said his temporary restraining order is in effect until June 9 at 5 p.m. as he considers arguments in a lawsuit by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which he said the agency is likely to ultimately win. The suit challenges the Trump administration's efforts to revoke permission granted under President Joe Biden and end the congestion pricing program, the nation's first, which charges most drivers $9 to enter 60th Street or below in Manhattan.

The Trump administration had threatened to implement "compliance measures" — including withholding federal transportation funding and stopping approvals for state transportation projects — beginning as soon as Wednesday unless New York ends the program.

Last year, while running for office, candidate Donald Trump vowed to "TERMINATE" congestion pricing. A White House post on X in February contained an illustration of a crowned Trump with a caption that reads in part: "LONG LIVE THE KING" and "CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD."

At court Tuesday, Liman likened the Trump administration's threats — made by federal Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy — to a sword of Damocles.

"The point of the injunction is to prevent the sword from falling," the judge said at one point during the hearing, which came after repeated threats by Duffy to force an end to congestion pricing. The administration has continued to set, and then extend, deadlines for New York to end the program.

Duffy has said it's unfair to toll drivers to get around Manhattan and force commuters onto a mass transit system that he has used profanity to describe. New York says the toll is essential to reduce traffic congestion, to make the air less polluted and to raise money for mass transit. 

In a statement issued by her office, Gov. Kathy Hochul said, "We’ve won — again." She called Liman's ruling "a massive victory for New York commuters, vindicating our right as a State to make decisions regarding what’s best for our streets." 

In a statement, Department of Transportation spokeswoman Yael Even referred to congestion pricing as "Hochul’s class warfare" and said: "We look forward to making our case in court against Hochul’s illegal tolls as we work to protect working-class Americans from being unfairly charged to go to work, see their families, or visit the city."

The average car owner in New York City makes almost twice as much as the average non-car-owner, according to Hunter Urban Policy & Planning, and most commuters into Manhattan ride mass transit, including over 80% of Long Island daily commuters, Newsday has reported. 

Since the tolling began Jan. 5, traffic speeds are up, as is mass transit ridership and the number of visitors to the congestion zone, while peak commuting times have fallen, The New York Times reported earlier this month, citing data from government agencies and outside analyses. Additionally, the number of car crash injuries is down, as is fire response times, parking violations and complaints about noise, The Times reported. 

The MTA made about $159 million in tolls from congestion pricing in the first quarter of 2025, and is on track to bring in $500 million by year's end, Newsday has reported. Revenue from congestion pricing helps finance $15 billion in transit infrastructure investments, including new trains for the Long Island Rail Road, as well as accessibility upgrades at the LIRR's Forest Hills and Hollis stations.

In issuing his order, Liman said the MTA was likely to succeed on its claims, including that the administration improperly canceled the program. He said that absent the temporary restraining order, the MTA would suffer irreparable harm through delayed or canceled public works projects funded by congestion tolls, as well as harm to the values of bonds backed with the toll revenue, among other effects.

The judge said the temporary restraining order would allow the legal challenge to unfold while he considered the MTA's request to void the Trump administration's cancellation of an agreement made during the Biden administration to allow congestion pricing.

Liman issued his order following 90 minutes of oral arguments from outside counsel Roberta Kaplan for the MTA and the U.S. Department of Justice's Charles Roberts, who rode Amtrak up from Washington. MTA Chairman Janno Lieber watched the proceeding from the front row.

Kaplan said that what the Trump administration is trying to do with congestion pricing is a "recipe for chaos" that would create "an eternal fog of uncertainty." 

Roberts, who argued the cancellation of congestion pricing reflected changed priorities between presidential administrations, argued that binding one administration to agreements made by a previous administration would "wreak havoc and create terrible incentives." 

But the judge, who during Roberts' argument expressed repeated skepticism at the Trump administration's position, was unpersuaded. 

After issuing his order, the judge asked Roberts: "I assume that your clients will comply with it?"

"Yes, your honor," Roberts said.

By Matthew Chayes

matthew.chayes@newsday.comchayesmatthew

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.