New York sues Trump over 2nd Avenue Subway funds
NEW YORK - New York transit officials are suing the federal government, alleging it withheld nearly $60 million in promised funding, jeopardizing a long-planned Manhattan subway expansion.
What we know:
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority filed the lawsuit, accusing the government of breach of contract over delayed reimbursements tied to the Second Avenue Subway project, according to reporting from the New York Times.
What they're saying:
According to the complaint, the federal government "agreed to provide but has improperly refused to disburse" more than $58 million for the expansion, which is estimated to cost nearly $7 billion.
When would construction begin?
By the numbers:
Transit officials warned that the missing funds could delay construction of the next phase of the Second Avenue line, which would extend the Q train from 96th Street and Second Avenue to 125th Street and Lexington Avenue in East Harlem.
The project, first envisioned in the 1920s, is currently underway and slated for completion in 2032.
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There will be increased connections at the 125th St. Station, connecting with the number 4, 5 and 6 trains and Lexington Avenue, not to mention connections to the Metro-North, and M60 select bus service to LaGuardia Airport.
About half of the project’s $6.9 billion cost, roughly $3.4 billion, is expected to come from the federal government, the MTA has said.
But in October, President Donald Trump said he would withhold federal funding for the subway expansion and a separate Hudson River tunnel project following a political dispute with New York Democrats.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul blamed Trump directly for the funding standoff and resulting lawsuit.
Dig deeper:
"Once again, New York has been forced to sue the Trump administration to stop them from erratically shutting off billions of dollars in previously committed infrastructure funding," Hochul said in a statement. "For nearly a century, leaders have made big promises to the people of East Harlem about the expansion of the Second Avenue Subway. For nearly a century, those promises have been broken."
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Hochul said construction is already underway and the project remains on schedule and on budget, but warned that the funding pause threatens its future.
"But Donald Trump’s unlawful funding pause has put this entire project at risk," she said. "His actions alone have jeopardized the commutes of over 100,000 New Yorkers and the jobs of thousands of union workers, but New York will not back down."
She added that the state would pursue legal action if the funding was not restored.
Local perspective:
The lawsuit follows a similar dispute over the Gateway Program, a multibillion-dollar effort to build new rail tunnels under the Hudson River. The federal government had pledged more than $11 billion to that project.
Last month, a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from withholding more than $200 million in Gateway funding. The Department of Transportation ultimately released the money, along with an additional $50 million that had been due, though the delay forced planners to pause work for more than a week and lay off about 1,000 union workers.
https://www.mta.info/project/second-avenue-subway-phase-2
The Source: This report is based on information from