The Trump administration has done an about face and released all of the funding it was withholding for the Gateway Tunnel project. The administration’s action reflects its decision to stop defying a court order requiring it to release the funding.
The Gateway Development Commission said on Feb. 18 that it “has received the full reimbursement owed to us from the federal government and now has more than $205 million available to fund work on the Hudson Tunnel Project.”
The commission said it is working with its contractors and will resume work on the $16 billion project as soon as possible.
“Letters will be sent to contractors today, and construction activities are expected to resume next week,” the commission said, meaning Feb. 23 or thereafter. “We continue to pursue all avenues to secure access to the full amount of federal funding for the Hudson Tunnel Project, including our lawsuit.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul on Feb. 18 reacted by saying, “For months, Donald Trump illegally suspended funding for the Gateway Tunnel, putting the most important infrastructure project in the nation in jeopardy. Today — after our preliminary court victories and repeated conversations with the President about the need to keep funds flowing — we secured a major result: The federal government released the remaining $98 million in overdue funding to Gateway and provided an additional $30 million in reimbursements for work completed in January.
“I have told the President repeatedly that when he targets New York, we will fight back and we will not back down. Today’s progress is significant, but we need certainty that Gateway funding will remain in place for the duration of the project. The federal government has a legal obligation to fully fund Gateway, and New York will accept nothing less,” Hochul said.
New York Attorney General Letitia James and New Jersey Acting Attorney General Jennifer Davenport had filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration that resulted in a federal judge’s order for the funding to be released. The administration had stopped making payments in October and when the money on hand ran out construction was stopped.
“This funding freeze was unlawful from the start. We took swift action in court, and now every dollar that was illegally withheld has been released,” James said. “This morning, New York and New Jersey received the remaining nearly $130 million owed for the Gateway Project, finally unlocking all the funding that had been frozen. These funds should never have been withheld in the first place. I am thrilled that hardworking New Yorkers can now get back on the job and move forward with the most important infrastructure project in the country.”
James said her office would remain vigilant to ensure this funding continues uninterrupted.
“My office will keep fighting in court to save Gateway permanently, on behalf of the millions of workers and riders who depend on it.”
As a result of the New York/New Jersey lawsuit, on Feb. 6 a temporary restraining order was issued requiring the federal government to release more than $200 million in overdue funds, which took effect on Feb. 12. In compliance with the court’s order, the administration released $30 million on Feb. 13, followed by an additional $77 million. The Feb. 18 payment completed unfreezing of all of the money that had been frozen.
On Feb. 17, Hochul told a rally of idled workers at a Gateway construction site in New York City that she had talked to President Trump four times in the previous few days, the latest time on the night of Feb. 16.
Hochul said that she told Trump, “Mr. President, I know for a fact a lot of these guys might have supported you. How can you throw them out of their jobs? How can you tell them to go home? How do they go back to their families and tell their kids, ‘I’m sorry … the president who promised to create more jobs in this country has laid me off.’”
Hochul also emphasized that the Gateway Tunnel program cannot keep starting and stopping construction activity.
“The workers need to know that their job is going to be there, the one they signed up for, the one they trained for, the one they’re so proud of,” Hochul said. “It has to be there year after year until this project is done, and this project has to be done. We cannot compromise the safety of the Northeast Corridor.”
