NEW YORK — Construction on the Gateway Tunnel project pressed on Thursday despite President Trump’s announcement that federal funding for the critical rail infrastructure would be terminated. Crews could be seen working at Hudson Yards, one of the five active construction sites, preparing a deep trench for tunnel boring and maneuvering around massive piles of excavated earth.
President Trump’s remarks have put $16 billion in federal funding for the project in uncertainty.
“It's billions and billions of dollars that Schumer has worked 20 years to get. It's terminated,” Trump said Wednesday, highlighting his decision to withdraw federal support.
In response, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized the move as politically motivated:
"It's petty revenge politics that would screw hundreds of thousands of New York and New Jersey commuters, choke off our economy and kill good-paying jobs. It's vindictive, reckless and foolish," Schumer said.
The Gateway Project aims to replace and expand aging rail tunnels used by Amtrak and NJ Transit, severely damaged during Superstorm Sandy. As a critical link along the Northeast Corridor, it has been identified as one of the nation’s most important infrastructure undertakings. Construction had been proceeding under a combination of federal and state funds, though Trump’s announcement comes on the heels of funding suspensions during a recent government shutdown.
Officials remain determined to keep work moving. State and local financing could temporarily sustain construction, though the timeline and overall momentum remain uncertain without continued federal support.
“This program is of national importance. It represents the focal point of 20% of the United States GDP,” said Carlo Scissura, president of the New York Building Congress. “You're going to put a lot of people out of work. You're going to shut down a lot of businesses. And you're going to create a massive, massive bottleneck and infrastructure problem in this area.”
Labor unions have also voiced strong opposition to the federal funding threat.
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"All of a sudden saying, 'We're going to pump the brakes on it,' that's not how businesses operate," said Mike Hellstrom of the Laborer's International Union of North America. “The tens of thousands of good union jobs, middle-class jobs that are going to be created as a result of this really multigenerational project, and this administration just literally toying around with all of that? It's un-American.”
The announcement has also sparked concern among daily commuters who rely on the Gateway project to ease transit bottlenecks.
"I think it's a personal vendetta with the current president, and I think it's foolish, especially considering he's a New Yorker, he lives in New York and New Jersey, he knows how important this tunnel is," one commuter said Thursday.
"He needs to, like, realize that New York and New Jersey, it's not Democrats or Republicans, we're Americans," added commuter Joe Krall.
Experts warn that halting the project could have far-reaching economic consequences, with some estimates projecting hundreds of billions in potential lost economic output. Meanwhile, crews continue construction at multiple sites, determined to maintain progress on a project that has long been described as a lifeline for commuters and the regional economy.
With federal funding hanging in the balance, stakeholders are calling for bipartisan support to ensure the project’s continuation, emphasizing that national infrastructure needs should transcend political disputes.
Originally reported by Elijah Westbrook, Nick Caloway in CBS News.
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