Some 17 hours after New York City media — including Streetsblog — reported that the Trump administration won't to halt congestion pricing on its fake April 20 deadline, U.S. DOT's "Rapid Response" X account hit back with a very long, misleading and overwrought post.
The account, @USDOTRapid, quote-tweeted an article by the reliably right-of-center CBS New York, which it slammed as "the elitist New York liberal media." Then, channeling 2017-era Bernie Sanders, the account claimed the congestion toll on car commuters, who are overwhelmingly wealthier and whiter than subway riders, was "elitist," "a form of class warfare that targets working Americans" and "unfair to the driving public whose tax dollars have already paid for these roads."
U.S. DOT under Trump "will not hesitate to use every tool at our disposal in response to non-compliance later this month," the tweet continued. "Don’t buy the MTA’s spin, who are [sic] desperate to manufacture fake news to distract from the fact that their riders are getting assaulted regularly."
Streetsblog has exhaustively rebutted these points, and will do so again: Ninety percent of commuters into the congestion relief zone take public transit, which the state and federal government have short-shrifted for decades to fund highways and roads and god-knows-what. Just 2 percent of low-income New Yorkers commute into the CBD toll zone for work, according to the Community Service Society, an anti-poverty (anti-elitist) group.
Sec. Sean Duffy's claim that "the driving public" has paid taxes for the streets makes no sense — the same logic could apply to transit or the region's many tolled bridges, tunnels and roads, which people also pay fees to use. (Two-Stop Sean may be unfamiliar with that fact, since he needed Mayor Adams to show him how to swipe a MetroCard last week.) Drivers don't pay for the many external costs of cars like pollution and congestion — the rest of us do. Congestion pricing simply re-balances that equation in favor of the working class majority who depend on transit to survive in New York City.
Duffy, meanwhile, took to his own X account to rail against a fairly tame pro-Palestinian protest at Grand Central Terminal. It hardly matched the size or tenor of past protests at the Metro-North hub, but Duffy obviously doesn't know or care about such facts. To wit, he claimed the protesters were "able to suspend service at one of the biggest transportation hubs in America" — a claim the MTA Police Department quickly refuted.
"Fact check: Grand Central Terminal was never shut down and service was not affected. Police officers routinely prepare for all types of scenarios and this was no different," the MTA posted in a tweet signed by MTA Chief of Security Michael Kemper.
"Demonstrators were confronted, ordered to leave, and those who failed to comply were arrested," the tweet said. (Sounds like what happened is exactly what's supposed to happen.)
Hours later, Duffy replied telling to Kemper to "tell that to the Jewish Americans who feared for their lives while this went on" while accusing him of "enabling" the protest if he doesn't condemn it outright. (Kemper is Jewish.)
It all adds up to another tired Duffy concern-troll: He publicly registers a complaint, then he makes threats, then he lies. And when the MTA engages or disputes him, he tosses red meat to the base to score political points having accomplished nothing beyond another round of headlines.
Meanwhile, the cameras are staying on.
In other news:
- Gov. Hochul and the state legislature have a deal to fund the MTA capital plan, and The Post says it's probably some sort of tax hike that the paper is already against before even hearing what it is.
- The 66th Precinct is really stretching the limits of ADA compliance with this sidewalk paint job where its officers illegally combat-park, but Streetsblog readers have long known about that station house. (BoroPark24)
- Watch Zohran Mamdani tell Hasan Piker about open streets, open streets volunteers and the need for more city funding for the program. (r/MicromobilityNYC)
- President Trump's tariffs are extremely bad news for the bike industry. (Heatmap)
- TV news found a single West Village restaurant to complaint about congestion pricing's alleged negative impact on its business. (FOX 5 NY)
- Subsidizing transit pays off for private enterprise. (Planetizen)
- Council Member Susan Zhuang had her charges for biting an NYPD cop dropped after participating in a "restorative justice course." (NY Times)
- NYPD is holding an anti-subway surfing essay contest. (Gothamist)
- Trans people love trains. (The Flytrap)
- AOC could play a pivotal role in June's mayoral primary. (Gothamist)
- And, finally, a friend of ours in Brooklyn Heights sent over this photo of a car flipped on its side on Boerum Place near Fulton Street. We ran the plate — the car has been nabbed so many times for speeding (nine since October!) that one needn't wonder how it ended up on its side. The main question is why we allow drivers to speed so recklessly and then wonder why these "accidents" happen:
