Mr. Schumer declined to be interviewed about the matter. He said in a statement, “This project is vital to 50 million people in the northeast corridor and to our American economy, and politics shouldn’t get in the way.”
Supporters of the project emphasize that the New York metropolitan area produces about 10 percent of the nation’s economic output. They warn that movement within and beyond the region would slow to a crawl if one of the two century-old tunnels under the Hudson River had to be closed for repairs.
“The ripple effects of the loss of this tunnel are going to be seen through goods movement, through air travel nationally and through the economic productivity of the New York region,” said Thomas K. Wright, president of the Regional Plan Association, which studies transportation networks in the metropolitan area. “This is the national economy we’re talking about.”
This would not be the first time the plug was pulled on a plan to add capacity to the overburdened trans-Hudson rail network. In 2010, Chris Christie, the Republican former governor of New Jersey, halted construction on a different project, which was known as the ARC tunnel. Representatives from New York and New Jersey had already arranged full funding of the federal share of that project.
Since Mr. Christie canceled the ARC project, the need for a new tunnel has become more dire, transportation officials say. In 2012, Hurricane Sandy flooded the existing tunnels with salt water and the residue has been eating away at them from the inside ever since. If one of those tubes, which are owned and maintained by Amtrak, had to be taken out of service with no replacement, train service to and from New York City would be reduced by as much as 75 percent, Amtrak officials say.
“Every day that goes by is a day we risk uncertainty, especially with mother nature,” said Janna Chernetz, director of New Jersey policy for the Tri-State Transportation Campaign. “The next storm will not have to be as strong as Hurricane Sandy before the tunnel has to be taken out of service.”
Kathryn S. Wylde, president and chief executive of the Partnership for New York City, a big-business group, says Mr. Trump knows how important Gateway is to the region and the country.
“President Trump travels frequently between New York and New Jersey and understands that Gateway is critical to connect the rest of the country with the center of the economy and the world financial capital in New York,” Ms. Wylde said in an interview. “I have no doubt that regardless of what he says, he knows the importance of this project and he does not want it to fail on his watch.”
Mr. King said he did not understand what had changed since he attended a meeting with Mr. Trump and other elected officials at the White House in September. At the time Mr. Trump was telling the group that Gateway was “even more important than we were saying it was,” Mr. King recalled. He said he came away believing that receiving substantial federal funding for the project was merely a matter of “crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s,” he said.
Mr. Christie and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York, both of whom attended that meeting, had already pledged to cover half the cost of building Gateway. The Obama administration had ranked Gateway the No. 1 priority in transportation infrastructure and informally agreed to cover the other half.
In what was taken as a sign of continuing bipartisan support, Rodney P. Frelinghuysen, a Republican from New Jersey who leads the House Appropriations Committee, committed $900 million to the Gateway project last year. Mr. Christie, who had endorsed Mr. Trump for president, called the allocation “a triumph for our region.”
But by December, Mr. Trump and members of his administration signaled a reversal. The federal Department of Transportation withdrew from the board of the Gateway Program Development Corporation. In a letter sent just before New Year’s Eve, K. Jane Williams, the acting administrator of the Federal Transit Administration, said the agreement the governors were citing was “nonexistent.”
Still, Republicans have been planning to include more than $900 million for Gateway in the spending bill that they hope to pass this month. At least they did before Mr. Trump personally pressed Speaker Paul D. Ryan last week to remove that allocation, according to people familiar with the conversation.
Reports of Mr. Trump’s appeals angered elected officials in New York.
“Taxpayers deserve better than a president who would sabotage critical economic development to pursue petty partisan vendettas,” said Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat. “President Trump needs to grow up and work on behalf of Americans here.”
Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York took to Twitter to say Mr. Trump was making the “wrong decision” about the project.
Mr. Cuomo, who initially withheld his support for Gateway but has become a vocal proponent of the project, said in a statement: “Leaders on both sides of the aisle as well as practically every regional stakeholder and transit expert agree these tunnels need to be replaced. The president should do the right thing and stop playing politics with our transportation network, which is the lifeblood of the Northeast region’s economy.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/03/nyregion/trump-schumer-hudson-tunnel.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news
For no other reason then simply very childish spite, Trump wants the Federal Government to withhold previously dedicated Bi-Partisan funding for a project that the vast majority of local and national legislators agree is needed and will create many jobs, simply because like an overgrown spoiled child Trump wants to stomp his foot, threaten to hold his breath until he turns blue, because he thinks that in some way this project will in some way benefit Senator Chuck Shumer, when in fact it will benefit many legislators of both parties in the Greater New York/New Jersey region. Hell even Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell are shocked and pissed off about this ignorance!
What a fucking spoiled and stupid little brat he is showing himself to really be. What is next? Is he going to roll around on the floor and scream "Mommy" until he gets his way? He has become such an embarrassment on the national and world stage that the entire nation should be blushing because of his spoiled little boy attitude. When is this 71 year old person going to grow the fuck up and act like an adult?
Supposedly infrastructure was one of Rump's big plans to push; musta been another of his "white lies".
And the thing is this project has overwhelming GOP support in the House and the Senate. Many Republican Congressman and Senators are trying to figure out a way around this spoiled man-child to still get it funded and it might just hold up the up coming spending Bill as even Paul Ryan and Peter King, two very powerful Republicans are saying they'll vote against the funding bill if it doesn't include this funding. Especially since the only single reason Trump is now suddenly opposed is because he is acting like a spoiled 4 year old because he doesn't like Chuck Schumer and wants to kick sand out of his sand box at him. When the fuck will Trump ever just grow the fuck up?
Trump doesn't really care about about real infrastructure. If he did he he would have put that in Congress first as something that he could have got accomplished as a bipartisan Bill right off, instead of the ignorance of attacking healthcare. Now what he shows as infrastructure is nothing more then huge tax breaks to private companies and utilities with "encouragements" for them to modernize. It's a fucking joke. It makes his rich friends richer and even those who will rebuild our highways and bridges and highways will do so as toll rods and the government will not pay for any projects that will require American cement or American steel or even American workers!
Kathryn S. Wylde, president and chief executive of the Partnership for New York City, a big-business group, says Mr. Trump knows how important Gateway is to the region and the country.
“President Trump travels frequently between New York and New Jersey and understands that Gateway is critical to connect the rest of the country with the center of the economy and the world financial capital in New York,” Ms. Wylde said in an interview. “I have no doubt that regardless of what he says, he knows the importance of this project and he does not want it to fail on his watch.”
His supporters need to get it through there heads that Trump does not give a flying fuck about what is or is not good for the average American and never did and never will. He simply is not wired that way (to the extent that he is wired at all (which he very slightly is)). All he has ever cared about and all he will care about is what affects him positively. If it does not have a direct positive affect on him then, even if it is something that does not hurt him, it simply does not count. It is a "Fuck it then" philosophy. Especially if it is something that might make an enemy of his happy. Then he turns into a 5 year old and giggles as he says "no" no matter who it hurts or how stupid that "no" is for real people and how much it hurts them, who he has no consideration for at all. He simply does not care about the American people at all and never will. He is a sociopath and only cares about himself.