Hochul tells Trump to cough up $15B to fix NYC subways if congestion pricing is cut
By: Emily Crane
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
President Trump will have to come up with $15 billion in federal cash to fix New York City's subway system if he wants to cut congestion pricing, Gov. Kathy Hochul insisted Thursday — as their ongoing spat over the controversial Manhattan toll only continues to escalate.
The Democrat said she gave Trump the so-called ultimatum during their White House sit-down late last week, telling him he would need to dip into US coffers to offset the billions the state is estimated to lose if the congestion toll is nixed.
"You're gonna have to give me $15 billion to invest in a subway system, then," Hochul told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" of her closed-door meeting with the president on Wednesday.
"If I lose $15 billion that we're able to leverage with the money brought in by congestion pricing, then I won't be able to fix the stations and the repairs and the new buses I need."
Her apparent demand is just the latest development in the showdown between the feds and state over the scheme to charge drivers a $9 fee to enter Manhattan below 60th Street.
The Trump administration has given the state a deadline of March 21 to "cease the collection of tolls" after US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced last week he was scrapping federal approval.
Hochul, for her part, has repeatedly vowed to resist the order.
"We have to fight to keep it going, and that's why I'm taking it to the courts and I'll take it wherever I can," Hochul said during Thursday's MSNBC appearance — as she doubled down on remarks made a day earlier.
"They're telling us we have to have an orderly cessation by the end of March. I'm saying we're going to have to have an orderly resistance," she added.
"We are not turning off the cameras."
Hochul said she tried to lean on the fact that Trump and she are both native New Yorkers in a bid to sway the president, who has decried the toll as a "terrible tax on working class."
"I said, 'Mr. President, you're a New Yorker. First of all, the most offensive thing I found in the letter from Sean Duffy was citing New Jersey saying they don't like this,'" she said, referring to the transportation secretary's order to cut the toll.
"'Mr. President, we're both New Yorkers. Why do we care what New Jersey thinks?,'" she continued.
"It's a lovely place. But you know what? If you are taking the tunnels, it's 48% faster. So I want New Jersey residents to come here. Come be part of an important part of our economy. If you're still driving … I just gave you the gift of time.
"Yes, I'm sorry, there's a cost to it — but that's what the concept of congestion pricing is all about.
I need to continue proving this to the president."
It comes after MTA honcho Janno Lieber also vowed to continue collecting the toll until the state is slapped with a court order.
"We have an approval that is valid and in effect, and we're not turning them off absent a court order," Lieber said during Wednesday's MTA board meeting.
He argued the toll had already proven to be effective, saying there had been 2.8 million fewer cars in the congestion relief zone since the program kicked off last month.
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Hochul should have managed the money better. Instead spending money to house illegals in luxury hotels she should have used it for the actual citizens of NY and NYC.