Trump admin freezes $18 bn New York transit project funding

The Trump administration on Wednesday announced a freeze on roughly $18 billion in funding for two major New York City infrastructure projects. The funding was earmarked for the Hudson River Tunnel Project (Gateway) and the Second Avenue Subway project, according to Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought.In a post on X, Vought wrote: “Roughly $18 billion in New York City infrastructure projects have been put on hold to ensure funding is not flowing based on unconstitutional DEI principles.”DEI refers to diversity, equity and inclusion policies, which have come under scrutiny by the Trump administration. Vought’s announcement came on the first day of a US government shutdown, triggered after Congress failed to pass stopgap funding bills that would have kept federal agencies and services operating for at least seven more weeks. The Trump administration has blamed the two top Democrats in Congress, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both from New York City, for the shutdown. The Gateway project, costing more than $16 billion, aims to build a second rail tunnel under the Hudson River, adding capacity to two single-track tunnels that carry Amtrak and New Jersey Transit trains to Penn Station, Midtown Manhattan, from New Jersey and back. The Second Avenue Subway is an ongoing expansion along Manhattan’s East Side.The Hudson River rail tunnel has been a long-delayed project, intended to ease the strain on a century-old tunnel connecting New York and New Jersey. Hundreds of Amtrak and commuter trains carry hundreds of thousands of passengers through the tunnel daily, with delays potentially affecting travel along the East Coast between Boston and Washington.