Transit and environmental advocates are not ruling out the possibility of a lawsuit to preserve congestion pricing in New York should Donald Trump win the presidential election in November and make good on his threat to “terminate” the program. 

Those advocates are concerned Trump could withdraw federal approval of the tolling program, which is designed to help pay for mass transit projects in the region. 

In a post on social media during the chaotic final weeks of his trial in Lower Manhattan, Trump labeled congestion pricing a “disaster for NYC” and “a massive business killer and tax on New Yorkers.”

“I will TERMINATE Congestion Pricing in my FIRST WEEK back in Office!!!” he wrote.

Dror Ladin, the lead attorney on a lawsuit going after New York state for pausing the program earlier this year, is not dismissing the possibility of a lawsuit against a hypothetical Trump administration - though he stressed he cannot say for sure without seeing how Trump plans to try to undo it. 

“To the extent that they make an effort to shut it down at the federal level, that may be about as lawless as what Gov. Hochul has done here [in New York]. Then the claims would be very similar in that there is no legal right, you know, no legal authority to shut down the program,” Ladin told Spectrum News NY1. 

Ladin and other congestion pricing advocates warn that the threat of another Trump presidency only underscores the need to get the program up and running now. 

“I think the politics of it will change once it's turned on, so I think that would also safeguard it against federal interference,” he said. “If the people of New York see how useful it is, I think that's going to really protect the program.”

The Hochul administration has repeatedly said the pause is only temporary, serving as a financial lifeline to middle-class families - though when the pause will be lifted is unclear. 

When Trump was in the White House, his administration stalled congestion pricing, but the program cleared a series of federal hurdles after Joe Biden became president. What is unclear is whether a Trump administration could be able to stop it. 

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Federal Highway Administration said, it remains “committed to working with New York project sponsors on next steps once the project resumes.”

A spokesperson for Gov. Kathy Hochul, meanwhile, said she is “committed to funding the MTA Capital Plan and is working with partners in government on funding mechanisms while congestion pricing is paused.” 

Spectrum News NY1 reached out to the Trump team several times, asking for more details on the former president’s pledge to terminate the program and the possibility of a lawsuit. They did not respond by deadline.