Trump said he’d restore Gateway funding if New York renames Penn Station after him
Photo of Penn Station by Don Ramey Logan via WikiCommons
President Donald Trump told Sen. Chuck Schumer last month that he’d resume funding for the Gateway project, but only if New York’s Penn Station and Washington’s Dulles International Airport are renamed after him. Trump said he would release $16 billion in previously allocated federal funds for the critical infrastructure project on that condition, as CNN reported. Funding, which had been secured under the Biden administration, was frozen during October’s government shutdown. Construction on the project will stop at 5 p.m. on Friday if the funding does not resume.
According to the report, Schumer reportedly dismissed the offer immediately, telling Trump he did not have the authority to fulfill such an “unorthodox” request. Since then, Trump has continued to withhold funding, jeopardizing one of the nation’s largest public infrastructure projects.
The initiative includes the Hudson Tunnel Project, which is building a new, two-tube tunnel under the Hudson River and rehabilitating the deteriorating tunnels that connect New York and New Jersey. The existing pair, more than 110 years old, suffered significant damage during Superstorm Sandy in 2012 and has continued to deteriorate since, as 6sqft previously reported.
Despite their aging conditions, the tunnels are a critical component of the nation’s economy. If they were to shut down for just one day, it would cost the nation roughly $100 billion.
Work on the project’s first phase began in November 2023, and tunnel boring was slated to start this summer. In August, the GDC announced that two massive tunnel-boring machines were set to arrive in early 2026 to start excavating the 2.4-mile connection to Penn Station. One has already arrived on site, according to the New York Times.
Construction had been able to continue thanks to a $500 million line of credit from Bank of America, provided to the GDC, according to Politico. However, the commission said last week that work would stop by February 6 once the credit is fully depleted.
With construction paused, roughly 1,000 jobs have already been lost. An extended halt could endanger about 11,000 construction jobs and another 95,000 positions, along with $19.6 billion in anticipated economic impact.
This week, Gov. Kathy Hochul and Gov. Mikie Sherrill announced they were suing the Trump administration over its action, joining a separate lawsuit filed days earlier by the Gateway Development Commission (GDC), which oversees the project.
The states said they are bringing the lawsuit because ending the project would “kill thousands of jobs” and “imperil” the commutes of New Yorkers and New Jerseyans, according to a press release.
In an official statement, GDC Chief Executive Officer Tom Prendergast highlighted the impact the project’s pause will have on jobs, while emphasizing that it is a “setback,” not the end of Gateway.
“For more than two years, the hardworking men and women building the Hudson Tunnel Project have not missed a day of work,” Prendergast said. “That will change today, because the federal administration continues to withhold funding for this vital investment in our nation’s rail infrastructure.”
He added: “Today is a setback, but it is not the end. To those who have long championed the project, our workforce, and the riders who are relying on GDC to finally deliver the modern, reliable commute they deserve: know that our work is far from over.”
Trump’s push to rename the two transit hubs after himself continues a pattern of attaching his name to prominent U.S. institutions and projects, in addition to many of his residential buildings in New York City. Since returning to the White House, he has named a battleship after himself and added his name to the U.S. Institute of Peace and Washington’s Kennedy Center.
Trump has also shown interest in the design of the new Penn Station; the federal government took over the project from the MTA last April. As 6sqft previously reported, former NYC Transit president Andy Byford will lead the project for Amtrak, with plans to start construction in 2027.
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