Start counting down the clock on those “congestion” tolls: Team Trump has a clear path to ending them once the new president has his players in place.
The Biden crew opted to ignore the MTA’s failure to file a full environmental-impact statement on the “congestion pricing plan,” accepting instead a less-sweeping “assessment.”
As Nicole Gelinas notes for The Post, that leaves room for Trump officials (once Senate-confirmed) to revoke the federal OK — especially as New Jersey’s suit against the tolls is still live in federal court.
On the merits, the issue is open-and-shut: The tolls may improve air quality in Manhattan, but only at the cost of upping traffic and air pollution in Jersey, Staten Island and especially The Bronx — which already has some of the worst air issues in the nation.
The simple truth here is that this “congestion” plan was never about anything except getting cash for the MTA without Albany having to gore any other ox: Adding a new toll was the easiest out for then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, his successor, Gov. Kathy Hochul, and the Legislature’s progressive leaders.
In the Biden years, they had the DC connections to get away with it, but there’s a new cop in town and he’s on record saying the tolls need to go.
And if revoking the federal air-quality OK doesn’t do the trick, Congress can still act; Jersey Democrats might even join New York Republicans in passing a measure that, for example, cuts off Empire State highway money if these tolls remain in place.
Ending the tolls is a top priority for the likes of Reps. Mike Lawler and Nicole Malliotakis; they won’t let Queens’ most famous son forget his vow to stop them.
As Albany dickers over the new state budget, Hochul and the Legislature’s leaders need to get real about getting the MTA the funds (and savings) it needs without sticking commuters with the bill.
This story originally appeared on NYPost
