The Trump administration has released about half of a delayed $205 million payment for the massive Gateway Tunnel project under the Hudson River, but work remains stalled as local officials await the full amount, now overdue by more than four months.
In October, the Department of Transportation halted payment on the $16 billion project, citing concerns about how the project manager, the Gateway Development Commission, is implementing the federal Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program. President Trump then said he was “terminating” the project, noting that it involved “billions and billions of dollars that Schumer has worked 20 years to get” — a reference to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer that fueled perceptions that the president’s motivations were largely political. In any event, without the payment, the project ran out of funds and reportedly exhausted a credit line, halting construction earlier this month and idling about 1,000 unionized workers.
Soon after the funds were frozen, the states of New York and New Jersey sued the Trump administration, and earlier this month a federal court ordered DOT to release the full $205 million payment, even as the case makes its way through the courts. The Department of Transportation released $30 million for the project last Friday and another $77 million this week, but the project’s managers said they need to receive the full payment — another $98 million — before they can resume work.
The political battle: In a social media post Monday, Trump accused the Gateway project of being a “future boondoggle” that will cost far more than projected. He declared that the federal government will not be responsible for any cost overruns.
Trump also denied reports that he had asked Schumer to agree to rename New York's Penn Station after him in exchange for resuming the funding. “[T]he naming of PENN Station (I LOVE Pennsylvania, but it is a direct competitor to New York, and ‘eating New York’s lunch!’) to TRUMP STATION, was brought up by certain politicians and construction union heads, not me,” he wrote.
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat, pushed back against Trump’s characterization of the project. “The only person who can make Gateway a boondoggle is Donald Trump,” she said on social media. “Until his illegal actions forced the project to shut down, threw 1,000 hard-working men and women off the job, and threatened the commutes of 200,000 people a day, Gateway was on time and on budget.”
At a rally with union leaders Tuesday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul called on Trump to stop interfering with the funding. “We’re only halfway home, but it cannot continue like this,” Hochul said. “When you give us the full $200 million that you owe us, I don’t want to have this happen day after day, week after week, year after year. ... So let's stop the chaos, let's stop the insanity. Let them work, Mr. President — let them work. Let them get back to work right now.”