After NY ignores latest deadline, feds give yet another month to stop toll that Trump hates

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NEW YORK (AP) — Twice this year, the Trump administration has given New York an ultimatum to end a toll on most drivers entering the busiest part of Manhattan -- and twice the state has ignored it.

On Monday, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy gave the state another 30 days — until May 21 — to stop collecting the toll, or at least explain why they’re not breaking the law by continuing with the program after the government revoked its federal approval in February.

Duffy, in a letter to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, warned the state risks losing federal funding and approvals for certain projects from the Federal Highway Administration if it fails to comply.

But Hochul, a Democrat, was unmoved.

“I repeat: congestion pricing is legal — and it’s working. Traffic is down, business is up and the cameras are staying on,” she said in a statement, referring to the system of traffic cameras used to assess the toll.

The fee, which began Jan. 5, is meant to reduce traffic jams and raise billions of dollars in revenue for New York’s subways, commuter trains and public buses.

But President Donald Trump, a native New Yorker whose namesake Trump Tower and other properties are within the congestion zone, had vowed to kill the plan as soon as he took office.

After first rescinding federal approval earlier this year, Duffy called the program “a slap in the face to working class Americans and small business owners," and initially gave New York until March 21 to stop charging the toll.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the state agency overseeing the tolls, challenged Duffy’s decision in federal court and Duffy subsequently pushed the deadline back by a month, to April 20.

In his Monday letter, Duffy said the state is in “open defiance” of federal law.

“The federal government sends billions to New York — but we won’t foot the bill if Governor Hochul continues to implement an illegal toll to backfill the budget of New York’s failing transit system,” Duffy said in a statement after issuing the letter. “We are giving New York one last chance to turn back or prove their actions are not illegal.”

The toll varies depending on type of vehicle and time of day and comes on top of tolls drivers already pay to cross bridges and tunnels into Manhattan.

Drivers of most passenger cars pay $9 to enter Manhattan south of Central Park on weekdays between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. and on weekends between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. During off hours, the toll will be $2.25 for most vehicles.

Other big cities around the world, including London and Stockholm, have long had similar fees to reduce traffic congestion.

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Follow Philip Marcelo at twitter.com/philmarcelo.