Malliotakis: Trump will fight congestion pricing

U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis wants to put an end to congestion pricing – and so does President Donald Trump.

Malliotakis and fellow GOP congressmembers met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago Jan. 11. She told the New York Post that the president said he will do what he can to fight the controversial program. 

“I believe that he’s going to look for every legal avenue with us to try to stop it retroactively,” she said. “We will have to see what our legal options are there. We will try what we can to address this from the federal level.”

Starting on Jan. 5, drivers of most passenger cars started paying $9 to enter Manhattan south of 60th Street 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.

Malliotakis called it an unfair tax on commuters and a problem created by Democrats at the state level. She, Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella and UFT have a lawsuit pending against it.

“If you look at the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which is the federal law that requires an economic impact statement for a program of this magnitude, there have been programs and projects of lesser significance that have had to go through the NEPA process and do a full, thorough environmental impact statement,” she said. “Yet the Biden administration allowed Kathy Hochul and the MTA to move forward without that type of study.”

According to the MTA, congestion pricing will improve quality of life by reducing vehicular traffic, improving air quality and making the city safer.

“We’ve been studying this issue for five years and it only takes about five minutes if you’re in midtown Manhattan to see that New York has a real traffic problem,” MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said. “We need to make it easier for people who choose to drive, or who have to drive, to get around the city.”

Malliotakis also questioned the safety of subway riders.

“If Governor Hochul actually wants commuters to ride our subways, she should focus on making public transportation safe instead of taxing commuters into submission with this unfair congestion pricing scheme,” she said.