Letter to the Hon. Donald J. Trump, President of the United States - Governor Andrew M. Cuomo Issues Letter to President Trump Calling for Promised Gateway Funding After Federal Report Labels Project 'Medium-Low' Priority

Letter

Dear President Trump,

Late last week, your administration released a report that absurdly gave the Gateway Tunnel Project a Medium-Low rating, demonstrating your view that it is low priority and effectively disqualifying it from receiving critical federal funding this year. In doing so, your administration is further delaying the single most urgent infrastructure project in the nation and making a mockery of your promise to address this nation's infrastructure crisis.

The existing Hudson tunnel, which serves millions of commuters and travelers across the Northeast, is on the brink of failure, and the economic impact of doing nothing is unfathomable if we allow the deterioration to continue.

The report narrowly interprets this as a local transit problem. In fact, the U.S. Department of Transportation Deputy Secretary Jeffrey Rosen last week called Gateway projects "local responsibilities" and said that "New York and New Jersey are the ones accountable for them."

Let me remind you that the federal government owns this tunnel.

And let's be very clear: Gateway isn't just about New York or New Jersey - it's about the wellbeing of the entire national economy. The Northeast is home to 17 percent of the entire population and contributes 20 percent to the national gross domestic product. If the tunnel were to be shut down without an alternative, it would bring the entire region to a standstill and would be catastrophic for the entire national economy. According to one estimate, it would cost the national economy $16 billion over four years and cost, in the form of wages, the equivalent of 33,000 jobs per year.

You've marketed yourself as an astute businessman, so how could you be so blind to the obvious national economic urgency of this project?

Your agency also deliberately discounts the financial commitments made by New York and New Jersey. Even though this is your tunnel and your trains rely on it, our states have already pledged nearly $6 billion toward this project - 50 percent of the project cost.

And despite the Port Authority having already taken board action and committed $2.7 billion toward the local share of the project in an approved capital plan, your administration gave the project a "low" financial rating - a direct contradiction to both historical precedent and your own administration's actions. In 2017, your administration rated the Portal North Bridge a "medium-high" priority with "committed funding" after the Port Authority had simply pledged a portion of the local share. In contrast, last week, you rated the Hudson Tunnel project "medium-low," wrongly claiming that the funding was only "planned" - completely ignoring the $2.7 billion in board-approved local contributions, well above the 30 percent threshold required for a positive rating. The takeaway can only be that this is a politically-motivated rating with no basis in reality.

You already demonstrated your resentment toward states that didn't vote for you when you capped the state and local tax (SALT) deduction, which is hurting hard working New York families, and now you are laying another economic landmine that will devastate New York and the entire national economy.

Enough is enough. Enough political vitriol. Enough political games with Senate Minority Leader Schumer so that you can build your useless wall. For the sake of the entire national economy, it's time to move beyond the reality TV show theatrics and work with us to build the Gateway Tunnel Project.

Three years ago, you announced on the campaign trail to much fanfare your plan to invest a trillion dollars into this nation's infrastructure, and yet two years into your administration you have nothing to show for it. Our national infrastructure is crumbling under your watch, and the Gateway Project is languishing because of your inaction.

On behalf of New Yorkers and all Americans, I call on you to join us once and for all to build the Gateway Tunnel Project. With this project, we can deliver for the national economy and restore this country's role as a global leader in infrastructure.

It's unconscionable that the sole infrastructure project that your administration remains focused on is a wall that nobody needs while the economy of the Northeast and the entire nation hangs in the balance.

Sincerely,

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