Dive Brief:
- New York’s embattled $16 billion Gateway Project received $30 million in federal dollars Feb. 13, according to the project’s developer, after a court deadline passed for an appeal to further delay project funding.
- The Gateway Development Commission said it received the initial payment and expects $205 million more in reimbursed funds. The infusion of cash, however, did not restart work on the shuttered Hudson Tunnel job linking New York and New Jersey.
- “Construction remains paused for now, and we are working with our contractors to plan how to deploy these funds in the most effective way and get workers back on the job to resume some construction as soon as possible,” GDC said in a statement on its website Friday.
Dive Insight:
President Donald Trump’s administration cut reimbursements to Gateway on Sept. 30 because it had complied with federally mandated workforce diversity goals. GDC had relied on its own financing channels since then, but said in January the project would need to halt Feb. 6 if funds weren’t restored. When they weren’t, the job went dark.
Over the weekend, Trump railed further against the job in a Truth Social post that was reposted on X. In a missive that compared the project to California’s beleaguered high-speed rail project, Trump vowed that federal funds wouldn’t be used if Gateway goes over budget.
“Please let this statement represent the fact that, under no circumstances, will the Federal Government be responsible for ANY COST OVERRUNS - NOT ONE DOLLAR! The Federal Government is willing to meet, however, to make sure that this does not happen!” Trump wrote in his post.
