Real estate CEOs to lobby Trump on Gateway tunnel

The New York Building Congress plans to lead a group of industry CEOs to urge President Trump to save the Gateway tunnel project.

Last month, the administration ditched an earlier proposal to split the cost of the $13 billion tunnel with New York and New Jersey. In a letter to the governor of the two states, Federal Transit Administration Deputy Administrator K. Jane Williams called the tunnel a “local project” and said the agreement to share the cost with the federal government was nonexistent, Crain’s reported.

Still, Building Congress President Carlo Scissura told Crain’s that he’s confident that, as a New Yorker, the president will recognize the importance of the project. The group plans to lobby the president in February or early March to include Gateway in his anticipated infrastructure plan.

“If Gateway crumbles, 20 percent of our nation’s gross domestic product is impacted. So this is a national infrastructure issue,” Scissura said. “The NYBC has Gateway as its number one priority.”

Many have speculated that the federal government’s position is merely a bargaining position with New York Sen. Chuck Schumer. [Crain’s] — Kathryn Brenzel