Copyright Staten Island Advance
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — President Donald Trump has again said he will look to end New York’s congestion pricing program. On Monday evening, Trump posted on the Truth Social platform he would have U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy again “take a good long look at terminating New York City Congestion Pricing.” Trump characterized the program as turning people away from visiting New York, calling the city a “ghost town” in his post. In response to Trump’s post, Gov. Kathy Hochul, who has previously refused to budge on the program, responded by again saying that “the cameras are staying on,” according to ABC7 News. This is not the first time that the Trump administration threatened New York’s congestion pricing program. The U.S. Department of Transportation initially told New York to turn off its congestion pricing cameras by March 21, but then granted the state an extension, setting the new deadline for Sunday, April 20. Near the end of April, federal prosecutors accidentally filed a document in court outlining the holes within Duffy’s arguments against congestion pricing, according to the New York Post. After New York defied an earlier federal deadline , the U.S. Department of Transportation threatened to pull federal funding for the city’s highway projects should congestion pricing continue. In May, the U.S. DOT warned it would retaliate if New York ignored federal deadlines to end congestion pricing. Later that month, a judge issued a temporary restraining order to prevent the Trump administration from withholding federal funding for future infrastructure projects. Congestion pricing involves using electronic tolling to charge vehicles $9 for entering Manhattan’s Congestion Relief Zone to reduce traffic and raise money for public transportation upgrades. Offshore pipelines During the same social media post on Monday, the president also expressed frustration with what he described as “OUT OF CONTROL” energy prices he said will “TRIPLE” because New York state hasn’t approved two separate pipeline projects, including one off the shores of Staten Island. The Northeast Supply Enhancement pipeline, which Trump referred to, would include a 17.4-mile underwater segment through the Raritan and Lower New York bays, passing Staten Island’s shores. The pipeline will increase National Grid bills by 3.5% for New Yorkers in the five boroughs and Long Island, even though the gas won’t be delivered to Staten Island, Manhattan, the Bronx, and parts of Long Island. Instead, it will be used by homes in Brooklyn, Queens, and Nassau County. The pipeline failed in 2018, 2019 and 2020 to achieve the Clean Water Act’s Section 401 Water Quality Certification — a legal necessity for the project to move forward. The New York State Department of Environment Conservation, the agency overseeing the project, has until Nov. 30 to take action in regard to the pipeline’s Water Quality Certification process. According to a DEC spokesperson, no decision has been made yet about certification for the project. “On July 2, 2025, DEC determined the permit application from Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company, LLC for the Northeast Supply Enhancement Project (NESE Project) was complete for purposes of public review,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “This notice is a step in the permitting process and does not represent a final determination. The public comment for the NESE project ended on Aug. 16., DEC is continuing to review the approximately 17,000 public comments submitted.”
