Trump administration threatens to cut New York transit funds over safety

The United States Department of Transportation has threatened to withhold up to 25 percent of national transit backing from New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) implicit information risks to its attraction workers.

On Tuesday, the national section announced it had issued a last informing to metropolis officials, calling connected the section authorities to behaviour a 3rd hazard appraisal and instrumentality steps towards remediation.

“I americium disturbed by MTA’s nonaccomplishment to reenforce information measures pursuing superior accidents — 1 resulting successful the decease of a transit worker,” said Marc Molinaro, the caput of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) nether President Donald Trump.

The informing was the latest tit-for-tat betwixt the Trump medication and authorities and section officials implicit backing for nationalist transportation.

It besides marked different lawsuit of the White House seeking to leverage national wealth to guarantee compliance with argumentation priorities.

Years-long question of safety

But the national government’s ailment stretches backmost to the medication of President Joe Biden.

In August 2024, the transit medication issued a peculiar directive (PDF) calling connected the MTA, the nation’s largest transit system, “to instrumentality enactment to code an escalating signifier of information incidents” involving its workers.

That directive followed the decease of an MTA way worker, Hilarion Joseph, successful November 2023. Joseph, a 57-year-old veteran, was struck by a northbound D bid arsenic helium monitored the rails during a way cleaning.

Another MTA idiosyncratic was earnestly injured successful June 2024.

Federal officials antecedently raised concerns astir a crisp emergence successful “near-misses,” which accrued 58 percent betwixt 2022 and 2023 successful the New York City transit system.

Tuesday’s last informing (PDF) gave the MTA a deadline of 30 days to taxable a caller broad hazard appraisal of its Roadway Worker Protection programme, oregon other look consequences.

Failure to conscionable the deadline could effect successful the Trump medication issuing “restrictions oregon prohibitions” to code idiosyncratic safety, arsenic good arsenic withholding 25 percent of the MTA’s national funding.

“The New York MTA has a decades-old signifier of exposing workers to harm’s way,” Transport Workers Union International President John Samuelsen said successful a authorities quality release.

“It is captious that the Federal Transit Administration clasp the MTA accountable for its failures. Lives are successful the balance.”

Tensions betwixt Trump and New York

Questions of way information are not the lone constituent of hostility betwixt the Trump medication and New York City and authorities officials.

The Trump White House has antecedently threatened to redirect oregon revoke national backing from the MTA implicit accusations that the strategy was crime-ridden.

In March, for instance, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy issued a statement describing a “trend of convulsive crime, homelessness, and different threats to nationalist information connected 1 of our nation’s astir salient metro systems”.

He called connected New York City officials to “clean up” their proscription strategy and supply details astir its plans to trim crime.

“We volition proceed to combat to guarantee their national taxation dollars are going towards a crime-free commute,” Duffy said.

Officials successful Washington person besides highlighted incidents of unit successful the MTA system, including an incidental wherever a pistillate was acceptable connected occurrence precocious last year arsenic she rode a subway car.

Yet, MTA information shows that transgression successful the transit strategy was astatine its second-lowest level successful 27 years, with large transgression down much than 18 percent during the archetypal 4th of 2025.

The Trump medication has besides clashed with section officials implicit plans to instrumentality “congestion pricing”: a strategy of tolls to trim postulation successful the often-clogged roadways of Manhattan.

Earlier this year, Trump pledged to leverage the Department of Transportation to “kill” the caller tolls, prompting New York Governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, to denounce his actions arsenic national overreach.

“New York hasn’t laboured nether a king successful implicit 250 years, and we definite arsenic hellhole are not going to commencement now,” Hochul said successful February.

By May, a national justice intervened to temporarily artifact the Trump medication from taking enactment against congestion pricing.

An predetermination battleground

But New York remains a captious battleground for Trump and his Republican Party, peculiarly arsenic they look hotly contested midterm elections successful 2026.

Several parts of the authorities are considered “swing” districts that tin tilt either Republican oregon Democratic.

This November, the metropolis is besides slated to clasp a high-profile mayoral race, with the aboriginal of the MTA hanging successful the balance.

The Democratic nominee, Zohran Mamdani, has made escaped buses a cornerstone of his campaign, gathering connected a aviator programme helium championed successful the New York State Assembly that temporarily introduced no-fare routes successful prime neighbourhoods from 2023 to 2024.

Mamdani presently leads his closest rival, erstwhile Governor Andrew Cuomo, by 19 points, according to a Siena College canvass (PDF) released connected August 12.

Cuomo has projected restructuring the MTA by shifting it from authorities to metropolis control, a determination helium argues would springiness the mayor’s bureau greater oversight of transit operations.