A federal judge in New York ruled Friday that the Trump administration must unfreeze more than $16 billion earmarked for a major New York infrastructure project and allow construction to continue, saying that public interest would be “harmed by a delay.”
The temporary restraining order granted by US District Judge Jeanette Vargas in the Southern District of New York comes as President Donald Trump has withheld the funding meant for the long-planned project connecting New York and New Jersey through a new rail tunnel beneath the Hudson River.
Vargas said in a court filing that the states of New York and New Jersey would “suffer irreparable harm” if the Trump administration continued to withhold the funding for the project.
“Plaintiffs have adequately shown that the public interest would be harmed by a delay in a critical infrastructure project,” she wrote.
CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.
CNN previously reported Trump told Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer last month that he was prepared to drop his freeze on the funding under the condition that Schumer agree to rename New York’s Penn Station and Washington’s Dulles International Airport after Trump.
The president told reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday night it was Schumer’s idea to rename Penn Station to “Trump station.”
Schumer immediately dismissed Trump’s claim and accused him of lying about the details of their conversation.
“Absolute lie. He knows it. Everyone knows it. Only one man can restart the project and he can restart it with the snap of his fingers,” Schumer wrote on X.
The commission in charge of the tunnel project previously warned that it would soon have to shut down work on the project and lay off roughly 1,000 workers if the Trump administration does not release the funding it needs.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, who sued the Trump administration earlier this month, celebrated the ruling as a “critical victory for workers and commuters in New York and New Jersey.”
“I am grateful the court acted quickly to block this senseless funding freeze, which threatened to derail a project our entire region depends on. The Hudson Tunnel Project is one of the most important infrastructure projects in the nation, and we will keep fighting to ensure construction can continue without unnecessary federal interference,” James said in a statement.
