We are daily reminded of the massive upgrades, from the Biden administration to the Trump administration, from the very top on down. It would not be a surprise to learn that the Trump White House's janitors are superior to those of the Biden administration.
The members of the cabinet stand out as well, and few as much so as Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, who replaced the hapless (and clueless) "Pothole Pete" Buttigieg. And Secretary of Transportation Duffy, on Thursday, took to his official X account to give New York Governor Kathy Hochul what my grandfather would have described as a "dad-gum good piece of his mind."
.@GovKathyHochul — the federal government and @POTUS are putting New York on notice.
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) March 20, 2025
Your refusal to end cordon pricing and your open disrespect towards the federal government is unacceptable.
Just as your high tolls and no free road option are a slap in the face to hard…
Secretary Duffy's post continues:
Just as your high tolls and no free road option are a slap in the face to hard working Americans, your refusal to approve two vital pipelines that will lower fuel costs by 50% are against the public’s best interests.
Your unlawful pricing scheme charges working-class citizens to use roads their federal tax dollars already paid to build.
We will provide New York with a 30-day extension as discussions continue.
Know that the billions of dollars the federal government sends to New York are not a blank check. Continued noncompliance will not be taken lightly.
Cordon pricing, or congestion pricing, is a toll scheme where (in the case of New York) people driving into the city are charged a high toll to enter the city - specifically, Manhattan below 60th street. It places a considerable burden on people who work in the city, a city many of them can't afford to live in - and now can't afford to drive into.
There is always the subway system, but it's understandable why that option would make many people uneasy.
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A press release from the Department of Transportation on Wednesday listed DOT's reasons for yanking New York's waiver that allowed cordon pricing:
...the Secretary is terminating the pilot for two reasons. First, the scope of the CBDTP is unprecedented and provides no toll-free option for many drivers who want or need to travel by vehicle in this major urbanized area. Second, the toll rate was set primarily to raise revenue for transit, rather than at an amount needed to reduce congestion. By doing so, the pilot runs contrary to the purpose of the VPPP, which is to impose tolls for congestion reduction – not transit revenue generation.
In other words, New York disregarded the purpose and the intent of the Value Pricing Pilot Program which was originally established by Congress as the Congestion Pricing Pilot Program in 1991.
If there's one thing that the Trump administration's cabinet members seem to have in common, it's the attitude "We're not taking any crap from anyone." New York will, no doubt, continue to be an annoyance, at least as long as Kathy Hochul sits in the governor's chair in Albany. But in any contest of wills, my money's on the Trump people.
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