INFRASTRUCTURE/NEW YORK/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “For beleaguered commuters who ride trains into and out of New York City, the plan to dig new rail tunnels under the Hudson River must, by now, seem like a big tease.
Just a few months ago, the idea once again appeared to have gained the support it needed in Washington and, once again, it looks as if one powerful official — in this case, the president — could put a stop to it. The latest and perhaps most ominous threat came late Friday night when it was revealed that President Trump had asked Republican leaders to withdraw federal funding for the project.
Mr. Trump has promised to spur ‘the biggest and boldest infrastructure investment in American history.’ So his opposition to an established project that is widely considered a solution to one of the nation’s most critical infrastructure needs has confounded even veterans of his own party. Some fear that Mr. Trump is jeopardizing commerce along the Eastern Seaboard simply to spite Senator Charles E. Schumer, the Democratic leader from New York… 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… This would not be the first time the plug was pulled on a plan to add capacity to the overburdened trans-Hudson rail network.”
–Patrick McGeehan and Jeffery C. Mays, “Trump’s Yanked Support for Hudson Tunnel Angers Those Who Saw a Done Deal,” The New York Times online, Mar. 3, 2018