Facing a looming Saturday shutdown of work on a new Hudson River rail tunnel, the Gateway Development Commission is suing the federal government for an alleged breach of contract that may result in the potential loss of 1,000 jobs.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit<\/a>, filed in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, accuses the U.S. Department of Transportation of improperly withholding $205,275,358 in contractually obligated funding for work on what is known as Gateway, a sprawling $16 billion project in the Hudson and at several construction sites on both sides of the river.<\/p>\n Gov. Kathy Hochul trashed the potential Feb. 6 shutdown of work by President Donald Trump a \u201cbrazen act of political retribution\u201d against New Yorkers, while her New Jersey counterpart, Mikie Sherrill, said the Trump administration must be held accountable for putting jobs at stake on what the Gateway commission calls the \u201cmost urgent infrastructure program in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFor months, Donald Trump and his enablers in Washington have illegally withheld committed funding for this project in a brazen act of political retribution intended to hurt New Yorkers, putting thousands of union jobs and billions of dollars in economic benefits at risk,\u201d Hochul said in a statement. \u201cI said New York would fight like hell to keep this project moving and today, that is exactly what we are doing.\u201d<\/p>\n The lawsuit comes after the commission last week<\/a> said it would have to shut down work on the series of passenger-rail improvements between New York and New Jersey, whose centerpiece is a new tunnel in the Hudson. In all, the improvements span nine miles of new rail track between the two states\u00a0<\/p>\n The tunnel is being built to replace the North River tunnel that has been operational for more than a century and which carries more than 200,000 commuters daily. The rail link is a vital transit and economic connector along the Boston-Washington rail corridor known as the Northeast Corridor.\u00a0<\/p>\n But the existing tunnel is prone to delays and its critical equipment was damaged from flooding during Hurricane Sandy in 2012.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere is absolutely no question about the need to build these new tunnels and repair the old ones,\u201d said Tom Wright, president and chief executive of Regional Plan Association. \u201cThere is no alternative to doing that and it has to be done someday and hopefully before the existing ones fail.\u201d<\/p>\n Work on the project has continued through a line of credit even after federal funding was paused during last year\u2019s government shutdown. But with that line of credit now exhausted, the clock is ticking for workers at several job sites on both sides of the Hudson, with an orderly shutdown of the operation set to follow.<\/p>\n \u201cOur goal has always been to work with our federal partners and get funding flowing again,\u201d said Thomas Prendergast, chief executive officer of the commission. \u201cAt the same time, we must hold the federal government to its contractual obligations so that construction is not halted.\u201d<\/p>\n The 75-page lawsuit lays out what it describes as a \u201cstraightforward breach of contract case,\u201d accusing the federal government of withholding funds over the project\u2019s Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program, which the White House has labeled \u201cunconstitutional DEI principles.\u201d<\/p>\n The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment, though a spokesperson last week blamed Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and the Democrats for \u201crefusing to negotiate with the Trump administration.\u201d<\/p>\n Supporters of the rail project expressed frustration over the long-running Gateway saga. A previously proposed rail tunnel in the Hudson was canceled in 2010<\/a> by Chris Christie, then the governor of New Jersey.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s insanity that we are still talking about Gateway\u2019s funding \u2014 the project is moving, thousands of men and women of labor are working and the money is signed, sealed and needs to be delivered,\u201d said Carlo Scissura, president and chief executive of the New York Building Congress, which represents the building and construction industry in the city. \u201cLet\u2019s stop the partisanship and stop punishing the people of the Northeast Corridor, through which 20% of our nation\u2019s gross domestic product flows.\u201d<\/p>\n