Skip to Content
Streetsblog California home
Streetsblog California home
Log In

Spite is a lot cheaper than $13 billion.

That's the current pricetag for the vital Gateway Project, which would replace two aging tunnels under the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey that President Trump simply won't commit to — even after a cordial meeting with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday.

A final funding agreement for the twin tunnels, which carry 200,000 riders per day and are the New York area's economic aorta, could emerge early next year, according to Bond Buyer. But it all depends on Trump. And he seems more interested in using New York's desperation to advance his policy goals than on fixing the problem.

Often called the most important infrastructure project in the country, the $13-billion Gateway Project would replace the aging rail tunnel under the Hudson River from Manhattan to New Jersey that carries Amtrak and NJ Transit trains. If the tunnel fails — and it has failed repeatedly — thousands of cars are added to already congested roadways and the entire Northeast Corridor economy would suffer, experts say.

But despite campaigning on an infrastructure platform, Trump has gone out of his way to stymie this project. In March, he threatened to veto the budget bill if it included any money for the project.

Politico's Michael Grunwald says that Trump may be holding up the project as a way to exert power over the Empire State's senior senator, Chuck Schumer, the Senate Minority Leader.

Withholding funding from the project help Trump exert pressure to enact his policy goals, like a border wall, says Grunwald. In addition, Trump's supporters like to see him sparring with the liberal Schumer and are resentful of federal funding for projects in New York City overall.

"It’s hard to know why Trump does what he does," Grunwald wrote, "but he often seems to care more about winning than ideology, and he seems to think [building] Gateway would be a win for his enemies."

A spokesman for Schumer, Angelo Roefaro, told the Times that Trump “wants to use Gateway as leverage to trade for the wall" but that Schumer "has told the president repeatedly that he is not going to make such a trade."

Trump isn't the first Republican to practice this kind of brinkmanship with the New York metro economy. Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie famously killed the gateway's predecessor — the ARC tunnel — in 2010 at the height of the Tea Party furor. The tunnel was already under construction, so Christie's move resulted in $600 million of waste, but at the time, many governors, such as John Kasich and Scott Walker were returning President Obama's rail stimulus funds to demonstrate their anti-Obama bona fides.

Since then the situation has only become more desperate. The 108-year-old tunnels suffered water damage during Hurricane Sandy. Downed power lines and other issues cause regular delays. The tunnel had to be shut down for four days in 2015.

Even if the funding agreement is approved in early 2019 as optimistically expected, a lot of damage has already been done, according to a report by the nonprofit group Common Good [PDF]. And even without Trump's delay tactics, it could take until 2028 to finish the project. And there's a good chance the tunnels won't be able to service both Amtrak and NJ Transit for that long.

The delays have big environmental costs as well. Gateway's predecessor, the ARC tunnel, would have increased train ridership by 80,000 trips a day and reduced car trips over the Hudson River by 5 percent. Philip Howard, the Common Good report's author, said the one-year delay Trump has already imposed $1.6 billion in additional costs and added 366,000 tons of CO2 to the atmosphere, the equivalent of "9,155 midsized cars idling continuously for a year."

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog California

First OC Streetcar Arrives

The $649 million 4.1-mile OC Streetcar light rail line is 92 percent complete, and now anticipated to open in spring 2026

May 8, 2025

Thursday’s Headlines

California and Trump continue to spar and more news from up and down the state.

May 8, 2025

Talking Headways Podcast: ‘Normal’ is Not Correct, Someone Died Here

After a crash, the debris is quickly cleaned up and everyone moves on (usually too quickly). But these two experts are asking us to all slow down.

May 8, 2025

Metro Names Bill Scott as Chief of Police

Chief Scott and Metro leadership emphasized that keeping Metro transit safe would require a multi-faceted approach that included the deployment of officers as well as collaboration with the community, ambassadors, and service providers. "Sometimes enforcement is the answer," Scott said. "Sometimes it's not."

May 7, 2025

State Supreme Court Reinforces Rules that Cities Must Maintain Safe Roads

When Ty Whitehead was injured in a crash caused by a pothole in Oakland, it sparked an eight-year legal battle that is still being waged.

May 7, 2025
See all posts