NYC News - Local News

Trump Admin Claws Back Approval for Congestion Pricing in Manhattan The federal highway administration reversed its approval for the tolling program, and said it will pursue “the orderly cessation” of the system.  This article originally appeared in The City. By  Jose Martinez NEW YORK - Barely six weeks after the launch of congestion pricing, the plan to toll motorists driving into the core of Manhattan is facing yet another existential threat. President Donald Trump followed through Wednesday on his August campaign pledge to “TERMINATE Congestion Pricing,” likely setting the stage for more legal fighting in the long-running saga. On January 5 , New York became the first U.S. city to implement such a vehicle-tolling scheme, which is designed to unclog streets and fund billions of dollars in mass transit upgrades. The president’s transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, sent a letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul that reverses the ...

  Engineering proposals on tunneling and structural shell work are due by March 5 and a contract is expected to be awarded by the third quarter of this year.  This article originally appeared in The City. By  Jose Martinez Follow @x NEW YORK - The launch of congestion pricing has put the MTA’s plan to stretch the Second Avenue Subway from the Upper East Side to Harlem one stop closer to its final destination. Days before the Jan. 5 start of the vehicle-tolling initiative that is looked to as a major source of funding for the $7.1 billion expansion project, the MTA issued a request for proposals from firms that can design, engineer and build the extension of the Q line between 96th and 125th streets. “The Second Avenue Subway is one of the most important mass transit projects in the nation and today it’s driving forward, thanks to congestion pricing,” Jamie Torres-Springer, president of the MTA’s construction divisio...

On the first days, drivers struggled to avoid paying the congestion charge. One even said she’d leave New York because of it.   This story originally appeared in The City. By  Jose Martinez Follow @x NEW YORK - As New York became the first U.S. city to toll drivers entering a “congestion relief zone” over the weekend, some Manhattan motorists elected to spin their wheels to avoid paying the 60th Street-and-south charge. Steven Guerrero, 29, said he circled the Upper West Side for “about 10, 15 minutes” to avoid paying a peak-hours $9 toll before sliding into a parking spot on West 61st Street near West End Avenue. “It wasn’t an easy task,” said Guerrero, who grew up in the city and drove in Sunday from West Haven, Conn., to visit friends. “So many cars.”  MTA officials said a read on vehicle and traffic data showing the initial impacts of the new toll should begin taking shape this week, with hopes that it can curb congest...

  The tolling scheme is back on track with a lower price point, and the governor says she’s “looking for support from the federal government to support our shared goals of making this a world-class system.”  This article originally appeared in The City. By  Jose Martinez NEW YORK - Five months after suspending the vehicle-tolling initiative aimed at funding transit upgrades, Gov. Kathy Hochul put congestion pricing back on track Thursday — and squarely in the sights of President-elect Donald Trump. At a Midtown news conference as packed as a rush-hour train, Hochul announced that motorists driving south of 60th Street in Manhattan will begin paying a once-daily $9 toll on Jan. 5. The tolls would kick in just over two weeks before the White House return of Trump, who has vowed to “ TERMINATE Congestion Pricing in my FIRST WEEK back in office.” The governor’s latest reversal on the first-in-the-nation plan came after Hochul in June put an indefinite ...

  Multiple sources say MTA board members will be briefed this week on the governor’s plans to revive the vehicle tolling scheme and bring the base per-day rate down from $15. This article originally appeared in The City. By  Jose Martinez NEW YORK - Gov. Kathy Hochul will on Thursday revive plans to launch the country’s first congestion pricing program — at a reduced once-a-day toll rate of $9, multiple sources told THE CITY. Five months after Hochul paused the Central Business District Tolling Program before its long-planned June 30 launch, sources said she will reverse course by announcing that motorists will be tolled south of 60th Street in Manhattan by late December. “Governor Hochul paused congestion pricing because a daily $15 toll was too much for hard-working New Yorkers in this economic climate,” Avi Small, a Hochul spokesperson, said in a statement Wednesday evening. “[On Thursday] the Governor will announce the path forward to fund mass tran...

  The once and future president months ago said that he would kill the vehicle tolling program, but if Gov. Kathy Hochul acts quickly, there may be hope  This article originally appeared in The City. By  Jose Martinez NEW YORK - The return of former President Donald Trump to the White House could carry big consequences for the financial well being of the country’s largest mass transit system. As the Republican candidate, Trump pledged in August to “TERMINATE Congestion Pricing in my FIRST WEEK back in office,” vowing to put an end to the Manhattan vehicle-tolling program that Gov. Kathy Hochul paused indefinitely in June.  But with a Tuesday night win putting Trump on track to start his second term as president in January, transit and Albany watchdogs warned Wednesday that the clock is ticking if Hochul is to stand any chance of salvaging the tolling program approved by state lawmakers in 2019 .