NEW YORK − Construction on thenation's largest infrastructure projectcan resume after a court orderedthe Trump administrationto release funding it had withheld to gain leverage over congressional Democrats from New York.
On Feb. 18,New York Attorney General Letitia Jamesannounced the U.S. Department of Transportation released nearly $130 million in funding for the$16 billion Gateway tunnel projectin an ongoing lawsuit. The rail tunnel project, under the Hudson River between New Jersey and New York, is meant to bolster tunnels along the Northeast Corridor, the busiest passenger rail line in the United States.
The funding resuming is a blow toPresident Donald Trump, who had vowed to terminate the project in a budget fight with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York.
"This funding freeze was unlawful from the start," James, who hasherself been targeted for legal retribution by Trump, said in a statement. "We took swift action in court, and now every dollar that was illegally withheld has been released."
The Manhattan-based U.S. Attorney's Office, representing federal officials in court, declined to comment. Neither the White House nor the U.S. Department of Transportation immediately responded to requests for comment.
Construction had already started at several sites before federal officials abruptly pulled funding. Around $2 billion had already been spent on the project, New York officials said.
The project would create nine miles of new passenger rail tracks with a two-tube tunnel, and it would fix the existing 116-year-old tunnels, currently used by Amtrak and New Jersey Transit trains, that were damaged during Superstorm Sandy in 2012. Just one tunnel failing could cost the nation's largest regional economy billions of dollars annually, equivalent to over 30,000 jobs, according to the non-profitRegional Planning Association.
Trump, a former New York real estate mogul who has called himself the "builder president" but hasfailed to passan infrastructure investment bill, put the project to a halt in the fall during the federal government shutdown. On the first day of the shutdown, on Oct. 1, federal officials withheld grants to the Gateway project and the Second Avenue Subway construction, in Manhattan, citing New York City'sDisadvantaged Business Enterprise program, an equity initiative meant to expand participation in federally assisted contracts.
"I'm cutting the project," Trump toldFox News.
"The project is going to be dead," he said. "It is pretty much dead right now."
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Trump had also reportedly wantedNew York's Penn Station and Virginia's Dulles International Airport renamed after him in order to drop his freeze on billions of federal dollars on the Gateway project.Trump later saidhis staff floated the idea, not him.
In early February, the project stopped, affecting about 1,000 workers, due to lack of funding.
On Feb. 3, New York and New Jersey attorneys general sued the administration to release funding. U.S. District Judge Jeannette A. Vargas then issued a temporary restraining order in Manhattan federal court, and later required funds be released with updates on payment of all present and future disbursements.
The federal government owed about $230 million, according to James' office. On Feb. 13, officials released $30 million, followed by an additional $77 million released Feb. 17, James' office said. The Gateway Development Commission, the joint corporation between New Jersey and New York overseeing the project, received the remaining funds, about $127 million, via wire the morning of Feb. 18.
Tom Prendergast, CEO of the commission, said in a Feb. 18 statement that contractors would be notified in the afternoon that work will resume next week. The project now has more than $205 million available to fund work, he said.
A day earlier, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat,stood alongside union leaders and workersat a project worksite in New York City. She said Trump's halt put thousands of jobs at risk.
"Today's progress is significant, but we need certainty that Gateway funding will remain in place for the duration of the project," Hochul said in a Feb. 18 statement. "The federal government has a legal obligation to fully fund Gateway, and New York will accept nothing less."
The Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York, which represents workers on the project, didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Northeast Corridor serves about 800,000 passenger trips daily, the commission said. The section of the project, between New Jersey and Manhattan, is the busiest portion of the corridor.
Eduardo Cuevas is based in New York City. Reach him by email atemcuevas1@usatoday.comor on Signal at emcuevas.01.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Gateway project to resume after Trump DOT ordered to release funds
