作者：戴维·谢泼森
- 摘要
- 核心要点： 门户开发委员会称扣留资金违反了合同义务
- 项目暂停威胁生计与未来可行性，委员会声称
- 民主党人指责特朗普随意冻结资金，敦促恢复拨款
华盛顿，2月3日（路透社）- 监督着160亿美元哈德逊河隧道（该隧道是纽约与新泽西州之间铁路运输的关键枢纽）的委员会提起诉讼，要求迫使特朗普政府在周五施工即将暂停的前几天恢复资金支持。
美国总统唐纳德·特朗普在10月表示，他已终止该项目，而美国交通部拒绝发放前一政府批准的项目资金。
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由纽约州和新泽西州于2019年创建的门户开发委员会（Gateway Development Commission）于周一晚间在美国索赔法院提起诉讼，称美国交通部无合法依据扣留超过2.05亿美元资金，此举构成违约，并试图惩罚去年秋季政府停摆中民主党人的行动。
委员会在诉讼中称，若本周无法获得联邦资金，“将无法向承包商支付费用以继续施工活动，导致这一关键项目停工——留下地面上的巨大空洞，威胁到数百名参与项目建设的员工的生计，使GDC背负因延误和罚款产生的天文数字成本，并对项目的未来可行性提出质疑。”
白宫和美国交通部未立即置评，但白宫上周表示，民主党人“拒绝与特朗普政府谈判，阻碍了门户隧道项目的协议达成。民主党人没有任何理由不优先考虑美国人的利益，而不是非法移民，并让该项目重回正轨。”
纽约州民主党参议员查克·舒默表示，“如果特朗普总统为纽约和新泽西州做正确的事，解除其随意冻结的资金，这一诉讼本是不必要的。”
特朗普的共和党政府多次针对民主党领导州的主要交通和基础设施项目。纽约州长凯西·霍楚尔和新泽西州长米基·谢里尔（均为民主党人）对该诉讼表示支持，并敦促特朗普让步。
1910年建成、2012年飓风桑迪严重损毁的现有哈德逊隧道若发生故障，将严重影响都会区的通勤，而该区域贡献了美国10%的经济产出，每日有20万人使用该隧道。
该项目已投入近20亿美元，其中约150亿美元来自联邦支持，包括修复现有隧道和为美铁及新泽西与曼哈顿之间的州通勤线路建设新隧道。
门户委员会表示，他们已告知美国交通部，项目完全符合联邦法律。
特朗普作为前纽约房地产开发商，在其第一任期内拒绝批准该项目资金。特朗普政府还试图终止去年推出的曼哈顿拥堵收费计划，该计划旨在缓解交通并为公共交通筹集数十亿美元资金。
戴维·谢泼森华盛顿报道；克里斯蒂安·施莫林格和迈克尔·佩里编辑
Commission sues Trump administration over refusal to restore New York tunnel funding | Reuters
By David Shepardson
- Summary
- Gateway Development Commission says witholding funds breached its contractual obligations
- Project halt threatens livelihoods and future viability, commission claims
- Democrats blame Trump for arbitrary freeze, urge funding restoration
WASHINGTON, Feb 3 (Reuters) – The commission overseeing a massive $16 billion Hudson River tunnel, the linchpin of rail travel between New York and New Jersey, filed suit to force the Trump administration to restore funding just days before construction is set to halt on Friday.
U.S. President Donald Trump said in October he had terminated the project and the Transportation Department has refused to release any funding for the project approved during the prior administration.
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The Gateway Development Commission, created by New York and New Jersey in 2019 to oversee the project, filed suit late Monday in the U.S. Court of Claims, saying the U.S. Transportation Department breached its contractual obligations by withholding more than $205 million without any legal basis and was seeking to punish Democrats over last fall’s government shutdown.
The commission’s suit said that, without federal funding this week, it “will be unable to pay its contractors to continue construction activities, causing work on this critical project to grind to a halt—leaving unfinished work sites with massive holes in the ground, threatening the livelihoods of the many hundreds of construction employees working on the project, burdening GDC with astronomical costs in delays and penalties, and putting into question the future viability of the project.”
The White House and USDOT did not immediately comment, but the White House said last week that Democrats “are standing in the way of a deal for the Gateway Tunnel Project by refusing to negotiate with the Trump administration. There is nothing stopping Democrats from prioritizing the interests of Americans over illegal aliens and getting this project back on track.”
Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer of New York said the “lawsuit would be unnecessary if President Trump did the right thing for New York and New Jersey and lifted his arbitrary freeze.”
Trump’s Republican administration has repeatedly targeted major transit and infrastructure projects in Democratic-led states. New York Governor Kathy Hochul and New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill — both Democrats — praised the lawsuit and urged Trump to relent.
Any failure of the existing Hudson tunnel, which was built in 1910 and heavily damaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, would hobble commuting in the metropolitan area that produces 10% of the country’s economic output and is used by 200,000 travelers daily.
Nearly $2 billion has been spent on the project. The initiative, which received about $15 billion in federal support — involves repairs to an existing tunnel and the construction of a new one for passenger railroad Amtrak and state commuter lines between New Jersey and Manhattan.
Gateway said it told USDOT that it was in compliance with federal law.
Trump, a former New York City real estate developer, refused to approve funding for the project in his first term. The Trump administration is also trying to kill Manhattan’s congestion pricing program introduced last year, designed to reduce traffic and raise billions in funds for mass transit.
Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Michael Perry
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