(Bloomberg) – New York has fired the Trump administration’s efforts to shut down its shutdown to protect its shutdowns, suggesting that immediate court orders are now expected to seek in its lawsuit to protect the transportation charges program.
The Metropolitan Transportation Administration has not yet requested such a freeze. But it said in a letter Friday that it had reached a “stalemate” in negotiations to prevent the U.S. Department of Transportation from trying to kill the system, which has been ongoing for four months. The MTA suggested that the case would require a judge to issue a preliminary injunction to prevent DOT from withholding federally approved or funds to New York as it continues to cause losses.
The move further escalated the dispute between the state and U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy over the controversial plan, with President Donald Trump calling for a business killer, and the state cited numbers to show its success. The document comes shortly after Duffy told Gov. Kathy Hochul and the MTA stopped the loss by May 21.
A DOT spokesperson did not immediately comment on the document.
Most of the busiest streets in Manhattan sold for $9, resulting in a showdown between the Republican president and the Democratic governor. In a letter dated February 19, Duffy announced that former U.S. President Joe Biden’s approval of the plan has revoked U.S. approval of the plan, even if the paid bill of exchange began on January 5, the MTA sued the Trump administration.
Congestion pricing is expected to provide MTA with $15 billion in funding to upgrade train signals, make more subway stations accessible and expand Second Avenue subway to Harlem. This also aims to reduce traffic and pollution caused by impasse. According to MTA data, about 7.5 million smaller and smaller vehicles entered the toll zone this year, down 8% in January, 12% in February and 13% in March, with monthly revenues already gradually supporting planned bond issuances.
The MTA needs state and federal funding to upgrade infrastructure to improve services and attract more riders, and its 2025-2029 capital plan relies on expected $14 billion in federal funding.
Attorneys on both sides earlier filed a proposed case schedule, which is October’s case schedule, meaning tolls may remain in place until the United States unless the United States wins a court order to prevent them from being collected. Duffy then sent another letter saying he would start taking “compliance measures”, including blocking federally authorized projects in Manhattan.
The battle for crowded pricing also reflects signs of discord within the Justice Department. Last month, a letter from a letter to DOT lawyers in Washington severely criticized their legal approach and urged a strategic shift to public case files that were wrongly released to the court. DOT then replaced the Justice Department attorneys in the case with Manhattan attorneys.
“Complete game skills”
In Friday's filing, MTA's attorney Roberta Kaplan proposed a timeline that would allow Liman to rule a preliminary injunction against Duffy's compliance measures before it could revoke approval of the plan.
Kaplan said the move was necessary after DOT lawyers rejected the MTA's request for an agreement not to take these measures while the case was underway.
She said the United States is arguing that there is no need for a court order because “administrative litigation is underway.” She calls the argument “complete game skills.”
The case is the Metropolitan Transportation Administration v. Duffy v. Duffy in the U.S. District Court of Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
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