NEW YORK CITY (WABC) — Area politicians are responding after President Trump renewed his calls and plans to strip the Tri-State of billions of dollars, including funds to help build the new Hudson Gateway Tunnel.
New Jersey gubernatorial candidate Mikie Sherrill plans to hold a press conference later Thursday morning to respond to Trump’s comments.
“Mikie will always go to bat for the thousands of residents who rely on NJ TRANSIT,” Sherrill’s office said. “This critical infrastructure project will repair nearly 100-year-old tunnels that were severely damaged during Superstorm Sandy, while creating nearly 100,000 good-paying jobs and generating $42.8 billion in economic activity in the region.”
Senator Chuck Schumer called the Gateway Project one of the most important infrastructure projects in America and said Trump’s comments were vindictive and reckless.
“Donald Trump trying to kill it again is pure spite and stupidity. 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,” Schumer said.
Congressman Josh Gottheimer released a statement saying, “President Trump is taking a sledgehammer to one of the most important infrastructure projects in the entire country. And with that, he’s taking a sledgehammer to tens of thousands of jobs, to our economy, to labor, and to American competitiveness.”
The Trump Administration had already said it was freezing infrastructure funding for projects like the Second Avenue Subway extension.
On Wednesday, the president seemed to go a step further.
“This is not only jobs. I mean the project in Manhattan, the project in New York. It’s billions and billions of dollars that Schumer has worked 20 years to get. It’s terminated. Tell him it’s terminated,” Trump said.
The Hudson River rail tunnel is a long-delayed project whose path toward construction has been full of political and funding switchbacks. It’s intended to ease the strain on a 110-year-old tunnel connecting New York and New Jersey. Hundreds of Amtrak and commuter trains carry hundreds of thousands of passengers per day through the tunnel, and delays can ripple up and down the East Coast between Boston and Washington.
* Get Eyewitness News Delivered
* Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts
Submit a tip or story idea to Eyewitness News
Have a breaking news tip or an idea for a story we should cover? Send it to Eyewitness News using the form below. If attaching a video or photo, terms of use apply.
Copyright © 2025 WABC-TV. All Rights Reserved.