The Hudson River Tunnel, certainly one of two main transit initiatives whose federal funding was halted by the Trump administration final 12 months, is ready to expire of cash subsequent week, officers mentioned Tuesday.
“If funding does not resume, then construction will need to pause on February 6,” Tom Prendergast — head of the Gateway Growth Fee, which oversees the large $40 billion mission to extend rail capability between New York and New Jersey — advised the fee’s board. “We’ve gone as far as we can go with the existing resources that are currently available.”
The Trump administration paused federal reimbursements in October, within the early hours of the federal authorities shutdown — claiming the mission, together with the MTA’s long-awaited Second Avenue subway extension — now not complied with contracting guidelines that the federal government had modified simply hours prior.
U.S. Division of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy claimed to reporters on the time that the feds have been “not trying to shut down these projects — to the contrary, we’re trying to make sure these projects move forward, move forward fast.”
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Every day Information)
However President Trump in the meantime gloated that he’d “terminated” the funding — which Congress had already allotted — just because Democratic management had wished it.
A complete of $4.38 billion in federal funding has already been obligated to the $16 billion tunnel mission, which goals to complement the present, century-old North River Tunnel into Penn Station with a pair of recent tubes from the New Jersey Meadowlands.
“Billions and billions of dollars that [Sen. Minority Leader Chuck] Schumer has worked 20 years to get — it’s terminated,” the president mentioned in October. “Tell him, ‘It’s terminated.’”
Regardless of the shortage of federal reimbursement, work on the tunnel — the crown jewel of the broader Gateway mission — has been ongoing, with energetic development websites in each states and a large tunnel-boring machine set to start digging beneath Jersey Metropolis shortly.
However the cash has lastly run out, officers mentioned Tuesday.
“We stand here today facing the absurd reality that this vital and fully funded project — that is otherwise moving full-steam ahead — is on the precipice of being derailed, and maybe even killed,” Schumer mentioned Tuesday in feedback to the mission’s board. “It makes absolutely no sense, yet here we are.”
“All that stands in the way of Gateway moving forward is one person and one person only — President Trump,” Shumer added. “All he has to do is pick up the phone and tell the secretary of Transportation to continue funding Gateway and the project can move forward. It’s that simple. The money is already in place.”
Sen. Chuck Schumer arrives to talk earlier than President Joe Biden on the development website of the Hudson Tunnel Mission on Jan. 31, 2023. (John Minchillo/AP)
New Jersey Democratic Congressman Josh Gottheimer additionally spoke Tuesday, addressing the president in absentia.
“President Trump, I know you don’t want to derail our progress as a nation,” Gottheimer mentioned. “[The North River] tunnel is 116 years old — if it collapses, America will blame you. If we fall behind and our economy here falters into a recession, American families and businesses of all sizes will blame you.”
“On the flip side, you have an opportunity to do something historic,” the congressman mentioned of restoring funding. “This is what makes America great — please don’t blow it for some petty politics, because you’re pissed off at something.”
Prendergast on Tuesday mentioned his company had already made such changes.
“Our program complied with the previous administration’s requirements,” he mentioned. “We have proactively worked with our federal funders to maintain compliance with any rule changes enacted by the current administration.”
“We have promptly responded to any and all requests to demonstrate the project is compliant,” he mentioned.
President Donald Trump. (Mandel NGAN / AFP through Getty Photos)
White Home spokesman Kush Desai didn’t point out contracting guidelines when requested about funding restoration, however as a substitute tied tunnel funding to the president’s traditionally unpopular immigration enforcement.
In a press release, Gov. Hochul known as the continued funding pause a part of “Donald Trump’s vindictive quest to hurt New Yorkers, no matter the cost.”
“The stakes are enormous,” she mentioned. “Hundreds of thousands of daily commuters, 10,000 union jobs and billions of dollars in economic benefits all now imperiled by Donald Trump’s attempts to rip away infrastructure funding from New York.”
