CITYWIDE – NEW JERSEY’S GOVERNOR Phil Murphy on Monday dispatched a letter to new President Donald Trump, urging the president to work towards ending New York City’s recently implemented congestion pricing plan, reports ABC News. Trump and local GOP lawmakers, including southern Brooklyn’s U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, have previously expressed strong opposition to the plan, which Gov. Murphy acknowledged in his letter, writing, “I welcome any opportunity to work with you and your Administration where we can find common ground.” New Jersey also on Monday, in a legal effort led by former NYC deputy mayor Randy Mastro, announced that it will halt efforts to seek a restraining order against congestion pricing and instead file a new challenge against the Federal Highway Administration.
Gov. Murphy, a Democrat, wrote in his letter, “The current congestion pricing scheme is a disaster for working and middle-class New Jersey commuters and residents who need or want to visit lower Manhattan […] And, adding insult to injury, New Jersey communities are not being fully compensated for the additional traffic and attendant pollution that will be re-routed to them because of congestion pricing.”
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