00:00So, Sri, walk us through how this is all going to play out right now.
00:03Right. So what's at stake for these projects that they do end up losing their funding is that a lot of tens of thousands of jobs that these projects create,
00:12both the Hudson Tunnel Project and the Second Avenue Subway Project, both employ, you know, hundreds of thousands of people so that they could.
00:23And so they're all at risk of losing their jobs or these projects are also at risk of being delayed even further.
00:31So what is Kathy Hochul, the New York governor, and Chuck Schumer, the New York state senator, saying in response? Do they have any recourse?
00:39Right. Well, this comes at a time where Republicans or Democrats are kind of butting heads over who gets funding and, you know, where this funding goes.
00:47Yesterday, New York governor Kathy Hochul said that this is part of a broader culture war against Democrats by Republicans.
00:56And Senator Chuck Schumer said that this is a counterproductive move by the White House.
01:00So it hasn't been very well received.
01:04That Hudson Tunnel Project, though, is a huge one that's been kind of an albatross for every commuter in the New York tri-state area.
01:12It affects Amtrak trains. It affects New Jersey transit. It affects almost everyone.
01:16If there's a halt to this work, doesn't it just elongate the timeline for anything to get done?
01:22Oh, well, absolutely. I mean, this is already a long delayed project and we're supposed to see some completion by 2035 is what they're estimating.
01:31But this could push it back even further and that will, you know, further delay the ease of that congestion under the Hudson River.
01:41So, you know, there's a lot at stake for New York commuters and New Jersey commuters.
01:46On top of that, you also have the president saying that he's still contesting the congestion pricing that New York has put into place in central Manhattan.
01:56I mean, yeah, this is another attack on the MTA and, you know, the New York governor.
02:01So, you know, the Trump administration and Sean Duffy have kind of been using these New York City infrastructure projects to come down on Democrats in New York.
02:11And, you know, this is the way to their heart.
02:14So Sri Taylor covers transportation and uni for us here at Bloomberg News.
Be the first to comment