The Trump administration has decided to reinstate funding for a pivotal subway project in Manhattan following legal action by New York officials.
On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced in a federal court document that it has concluded its assessment of the Second Avenue subway line initiative and will resume reimbursing state transit authorities for the project’s construction expenses.
Janno Lieber, the CEO of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), described this policy shift as bringing “long-awaited transit justice” to the northern neighborhoods of Manhattan.
The Second Avenue subway project is focused on extending subway service northward along the Upper East Side of Manhattan, aiming to improve transportation access in parts of the Harlem area.
“It shouldn’t have taken seven months and a legal battle to reach this point,” Lieber remarked in a statement.
The Department of Transportation stated that this agreement ensures that taxpayers’ “hard-earned dollars will not support unconstitutional DEI initiatives,” referencing the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
The administration argued that use of DEI principles has led to soaring costs on federal projects and is unconstitutional.
“This has always been about securing the best deal for the American taxpayer and ensuring their dollars are spent efficiently and fairly,” the agency said in a statement.
Lieber, addressing reporters later Thursday, called the dispute “an “unnecessary waste of the public’s time and money” since the state agency was complying with the administration’s new rules regarding minority and women-owned businesses in federal projects.
“The whole point was they sent us a letter saying we didn’t make the standards of the new rules before they even issued the new rules,” he said. “It was just a bunch of gamesmanship.”
The USDOT had withheld roughly $60 million from the Second Avenue project as it launched its review. Overall, the project is supposed to cost $7.7 billion, with the federal government covering around $3.4 billion.
The dispute over the Second Avenue subway was among a number of major transportation projects in New York and New Jersey that Trump has sought to scuttle as he feuded with Democratic leaders in those states.
The administration in October also halted billions of dollars in funding for a massive new rail tunnel between New York and New Jersey.
A federal judge in February, however, ordered federal officials to resume payments for the tunnel project under the Hudson River.
Last year, the USDOT rescinded approval for New York’s first-in-the-nation congestion fee and threatened to pull funding from the state if it did not abandon the toll, which is imposed on drivers entering the busiest part of Manhattan.
But a federal judge ruled last month that the agency lacked the authority to unilaterally rescind approval of the $9 fee.
