Overview
- The Transportation Department, which filed its Second Circuit appeal Friday, is challenging Judge Lewis Liman’s March 3 decision that left the tolls in effect.
- Liman ruled the agency lacked authority to withdraw federal approval on its own and called Secretary Sean Duffy’s reversal arbitrary and capricious.
- The program, in place since January 2025, charges most drivers about $9 to enter Manhattan south of 59th Street.
- Gov. Kathy Hochul and the MTA say the tolls have cut at least 27 million vehicle trips and raised more than $550 million for transit upgrades.
- Because Liman issued a declaratory judgment, the government faces tighter grounds on appeal in a case that could shape other cities’ congestion pricing plans.