New York has acknowledged that the federal government has spent an additional $77 million to build new tunnels and bridges connecting it to neighboring New Jersey amid a feud with President Donald Trump.
On Tuesday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul appeared at a construction site with union leaders to call for the release of remaining funds frozen in October amid a record government shutdown.
Recommended stories
list of 3 itemsend of list
Hochul, a Democrat, told workers at the site, “We cannot continue like this.”
“Workers need to know that the job is there. It’s the job they signed up for, the job they trained for, and the job they’re so proud of. It has to be there every year until this project is completed.”
At stake is the fate of the Northeast Corridor project, a central part of the Gateway project, an interstate effort to widen and renovate aging tunnels connecting the metropolitan hubs between New York and New Jersey.
The federal government had pledged billions of dollars to the project, which is considered essential for transportation and safety reasons.
But on October 1, the day after entering a historically long government shutdown, the Trump administration announced it would cut off $18 billion in funding for projects that had already been awarded.
The move was aimed at pressuring Democrats and Democratic-aligned jurisdictions to comply with Republican demands for an end to the government shutdown.
But President Trump suggested at the time that some of the programming cuts could become permanent. The shutdown ended in November after 43 days, but funding for New York City’s tunnel project remained frozen.
Democrats denounced the freeze as an act of political retaliation. “All Americans should be concerned that the Trump administration is willing to harm working families and our economy in order to punish Democrats,” New York Representative Jerry Nadler said in response to the defunding.
But President Trump continues to withhold funding. On February 3, New York and New Jersey announced they would file a lawsuit against the Trump administration seeking relief from the funds.
New York Attorney General Letitia James and New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said in a statement at the time: “After four months of covering costs with limited operating funds, states have warned that unless federal funding is restored, construction will be forced to halt completely as early as February 6.”
Three days later, as states faced a Feb. 6 deadline, a federal judge ordered the funds to be forgiven, saying it could cause irreparable harm to the project.
The judgment required the state to pay more than $200 million in restitution funds.
Last week, the federal government responded by releasing $30 million, on top of the $77 million announced Tuesday. But officials said it’s still not enough.
At a news conference Tuesday, union leader Gary LaBarbera emphasized that new construction is necessary.
“Let me tell you, the existing tunnel, the Trans-Hudson Tunnel, is over 100 years old. Its structural integrity has been lost,” he said.
He added that the issue of maintaining safe transportation should be addressed on a bipartisan basis.
“This isn’t a Republican tunnel or a Democratic tunnel, right? This shouldn’t be a political tug-of-war,” he said.
Meanwhile, Governor Hochul used part of his speech to address the president. “Let’s stop the chaos. Let’s stop the madness. Let them work, Mr. President,” she said, gesturing to the workers around her.
But this week, Trump doubled down on his opposition to the project on his social media platform, Truth Social.
“I oppose future profiteering in New York/New Jersey, known as ‘Gateway,’ because it will cost billions of dollars more than planned and anticipated,” Trump wrote.
“This is a disaster! Without immediate efforts and proper planning to avoid insurmountable cost overruns in the future, Gateway will be similarly financially devastated for the region.”
He also criticized reports that he would lift the funding freeze in exchange for renaming New York’s Penn Station and Washington’s Dulles Airport after him.
“This is just fake news,” Trump wrote, adding that such proposals were “brought forward by certain politicians and construction union leaders,” not by him.
Still, White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt appeared to confirm the report in a press conference last week.
“Why not?” she told reporters. “That was something that came up in my conversation with the president.” [Senate Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer. ”
On Tuesday, reports surfaced that the Trump Organization had applied to trademark an airport named after the president.
Republicans in the Florida Legislature have already pushed for President Trump to rename Palm Beach’s international airport, citing nearby golf courses and Mar-a-Lago residences.
