Construction on the Gateway project to build new trans-Hudson River rail tunnels will stop next week after the Trump administration froze congressionally approved funding. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
A project to build new trans-Hudson River tunnels will run out of money in 10 days amid a funding freeze launched during last year’s government shutdown, forcing a costly work stoppage for one of the nation’s most critical infrastructure projects, officials said Tuesday.
Work on the Hudson tunnel project, overseen by the Gateway Development Commission, will stop on Feb. 6, months after Russell Vought, director of the federal budget and management office, said billions in funding to that project and others in New York would be frozen to ensure money did not flow to “unconstitutional DEI principles.”
“This project will shut down. We don’t know how long it will be delayed. We don’t know if it’s permanent, if it’ll be temporary, how many months it’ll be set back … but this is what we do know: shutting it down will cost at least a billion dollars in taxpayer money,” Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-05) said at a commission meeting Tuesday. “What a complete waste.”
How crews keep the aging Hudson River rail tunnels operating
The tunnel project is critical to regional mass transit and the northeast’s economy. NJ Transit’s northeast corridor line, the busiest commuter rail line in the nation, runs through those tunnels, as do Amtrak and Long Island Railroad trains.
Once funding runs out, work will stop at four of five project sites. A concrete casing project at Hudson Yards would continue because its federal funding flows through a separate grant that was not frozen, Gateway Development Commission CEO Tom Prendergast said.
On Tuesday, state officials warned the stoppage would immediately cost more than 1,000 jobs and risk $1 billion in funding that has already been spent on the project, plus imperil the 95,000 jobs and billions more in economic activity the project is expected to create over its life.
The stoppage will also make the region more vulnerable to disruptions in the existing 116-year-old trans-Hudson tunnels. A closure in the dilapidated tunnels that still bear damage from Hurricane Sandy could cost the region $100 million in economic activity each day, Gottheimer said.
“The president’s refusal to fund the Gateway Tunnel project is not only an illegal attack on New Jersey but also shows a reckless disregard for our economy and the livelihoods of working families,” Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D) said in a statement, adding, “New Jersey will fight tooth and nail for our hard-earned tax dollars and this essential project.”
Gateway Development Commission officials said they had acceded to the administration’s requests in hopes of lifting the funding freeze, but their efforts have yielded no relief.
In the meantime, lines of credit the project had tapped to stay operational amid the funding freeze have run dry, said Prendergast.
“Despite responding to all the requests from U.S. DOT in a timely, transparent, responsible way, it means nothing — none of that means anything — when faced with the harsh reality that President Trump himself made the decision to cut off federal funding,” said Alicia Glen, the commission’s New York co-chair.
Politico was first to report the impending stoppage.
Federal officials paused funding for the project in October in an apparent bid to pressure Democratic congressional leaders into ending what would become the longest federal government shutdown in American history, eclipsing the ignominious record set during Trump’s first term.
In an unsigned statement released the day the freeze was announced, the U.S. Department of Transportation attacked Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), charging the shutdown would extend the department’s review.
Days later, President Donald Trump said funding for the project — which Congress approved as part of President Joe Biden’s bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act — was “terminated” along with other projects in Democrat-led states.
The White House indicated Tuesday that its opposition to Gateway funding stems from a recent feud with Senate Democrats over funding for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, a fight that could lead to a new federal government shutdown later this week.
“It’s Chuck Schumer and Democrats who are standing in the way of a deal for the Gateway Tunnel Project by refusing to negotiate with the Trump administration. There is nothing stopping Democrats from prioritizing the interests of Americans over illegal aliens and getting this project back on track,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said.
“There is only one person who can get it back on track, and that is President Trump, make no mistake about it,” Schumer said Tuesday. “He has tried to escape responsibility, but listen to his own words.”
Union officials slammed the funding freeze and the impending work stoppage it will create, warning blue-collar workers who made up a significant portion of Trump’s base would be among the first to suffer.
“President Trump needs to stop the war against unions and American working families, middle-class families in particular,” said Robert Brunotte, a field representative with the Laborers’ International Union Local 79. “He needs to fund this project immediately without hesitation, and he needs to keep us in the tristate area working.”
Others warned that a delay could worsen congestion in the region as tunnel issues make trains increasingly unreliable.
Even if the funding is eventually restored and the work stoppage is lifted, there’s no guarantee the commission would keep its best-performing contractors.
“Money talks,” said John Mooney, a member of Ironworkers Local 580’s examining board. “Bullsh*t walks”
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