President Donald Trump said Oct. 15 in Washington his administration had “terminated” funding for New York City’s Gateway program. On Manhattan’s West Side, however, contractors on the site have not missed a shift, they say.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration paused nearly $18 billion in federal funding for both the Gateway and Second Avenue Subway projects. The DOT said it launched an administrative review of how the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Gateway Development Commission apply race- and sex-based contracting requirements under the federal Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program.
At the time, project leaders on the ground said work would continue in the short term.
That holds true despite Trump’s latest comments on the project’s termination, said Jorge Casado, senior vice president of investor relations at Tutor Perini.
He said Tutor Perini, the Los Angeles-based general contractor building the Gateway Program’s Hudson Tunnel project, is moving ahead as previously scheduled.
“We are unaware of any change in approach,” Casado told Construction Dive. “We are continuing our work on the Manhattan Tunnel Project.”
The Gateway Program, a roughly $16 billion series of improvements between New York and New Jersey, consists of two new tunnels under the Hudson River and the rehabilitation of infrastructure damaged by Superstorm Sandy. The Manhattan Tunnel project, one of its components, includes the construction of approximately 700 feet of twin tunnels and protection of existing sewer lines and utilities.
Despite Tutor Perini’s continuing its work, construction pros previously told Construction Dive that a prolonged government shutdown — now in its third week — could eventually disrupt long-term planning and groundbreakings. The longer the shutdown lingers, they said, the greater the risk to schedules and future phases of work.
“This is an industry that likes stability,” Carlo Scissura, president and CEO of the New York Building Congress, a building industry advocacy group, told Construction Dive. “Right now, there’s really no effect, there are people on the job today. The real question is down the road.”
