Traffic on the Queensboro Bridge in New York uses license-plate readers to turn lower Manhattan into a giant toll zone.
The U.S. Department of Transportation on Thursday replaced the federal lawyers defending it in a lawsuit over New York City’s congestion pricing program. They undermined the department’s efforts to end the oppressive toll.
RESIST!
The replaced lawyers for the Southern District claim they “accidentally” filed a confidential memo in the Manhattan court on Wednesday night questioning the Department’s legal strategy.
In the letter, dated April 11, the three assistant U.S. attorneys on the case warned that Sean Duffy, the transportation secretary, was using a shaky rationale to end the tolling plan and was “exceedingly likely” to fail, the lawyers wrote.
The 11-page letter instead suggested that the department could build a stronger case if it sought to terminate the federal government’s approval of the tolling program “as a matter of changed agency priorities,” rather than stick with the previous tactic of questioning the legality of the toll. The existence of the document was reported earlier by Streetsblog.
Legal Malpractice or Deliberate?
In a statement released on Thursday, the Department of Transportation described the filing of the memo as “legal malpractice.”
“Are S.D.N.Y. lawyers on this case incompetent, or was this their attempt to RESIST?” a spokeswoman for the department wrote.
Nicholas Biase, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office, said in a statement that the filing “was a completely honest error and was not intentional in any way.” He said that the Southern District lawyers took immediate steps to remove the memo, which is subject to attorney-client privilege, from the docket.
The fact that resistance is running through the DoJ and most other departments makes their words somewhat unbelievable.
Transportation’s Reasoning
Mr. Duffy has argued that New York must shut off the toll for two reasons, the letter from the U.S. attorney’s office said. First, he contended that the toll exceeded the scope of the 1990s federal program used to authorize it, because the plan didn’t offer drivers a toll-free option into the zone; second, that the toll should not prioritize the transit authority’s infrastructure upgrades over the goal of reducing traffic.
“Neither of these arguments is likely to convince the court,” the assistant U.S. attorneys who were representing Mr. Duffy wrote. The federal judge presiding over the case, Lewis J. Liman, has already rejected key elements of those theories in other suits related to congestion pricing.
The Transportation Department, in its statement attacking the lawyers with the Southern District, added, “It’s sad to see a premier legal organization continue to fall into such disgrace.”
This echoes the incompetent performance of a DOJ attorney in the Abrego Garcia case, who stated that he did not know why Abrego was sent to CECOT. It was a mystery to him.
The Southern District also mishandled the Eric Adams case.
Deliberate Gridlock?
New York wants to end gridlock, but they have dangerous bike lanes, bus lanes, and construction everywhere. It’s almost as if they deliberately increased the gridlock.
The public release of the letter was another setback in Mr. Duffy’s war on the congestion pricing toll, which he has ordered New York to stop collecting three times since February. President Trump has promised for months to kill the congestion pricing toll.
The purpose is to end gridlock. If you make it too expensive to travel through, it ends the gridlock. Gov. Hochul originally called for a $15 toll. It is currently priced at $9, and it is expected to increase.
They Can Run Mass Transit Properly, So They Keep Taxing More
The program, the first of its kind in the nation, charges most drivers $9 to enter Manhattan below 60th Street during peak traffic, aiming to reduce gridlock and pollution while raising much-needed funds for the region’s poorly run mass transit system.
The $9 fee is another tax.
Instead of addressing the overruns in the mass transit system, Democrats continue to find ways to charge residents.
They now tax Long Islanders for the city system.
Biden hurriedly approved the plan in November 2024, just before he left office.
Transportation Secretary Mr. Duffy has already threatened to withhold federal funding and approval for several transportation projects in the city and state if Ms. Hochul does not comply with his demands.
Gov. Hochul and the M.T.A. claim that congestion pricing is working, but many working-class individuals argue that it is a hardship.
The tolling program has continued to draw opposition from many drivers who say that it has been a financial burden. Some Manhattan residents and businesses in the congestion pricing zone have also criticized the tolls, saying it has raised their costs. The program has faced several federal lawsuits seeking to halt it.
Opinion
The judge will rule in the end
In any case, a Manhattan court won’t give the federal government a win.
“Taxpayers already financed the highways that Hochul is now shutting down to the driving public, and there is no free alternative. This is unprecedented and illegal,” one transportation official said.
In February, Mr. Duffy first moved forward with plans to block the Transportation Department’s earlier approval of the “pilot program” in the waning days of the Biden Administration. He called the tax a “slap in the face to working-class Americans and small business owners.”
His sentiments echoed those of Mr. Trump, who had spoken out against the congestion pricing plan during last year’s presidential campaign.
Manhattan judges are the ultimate rulers of New York, and they are all mostly leftists.
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