Christie, Cuomo, Other Officials Meet With Trump To Discuss Gateway Rail Project
WASHINGTON (CBSNewYork) -- New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie met with President Donald Trump at the White House Thursday to discuss the massively expensive, and massively important, Gateway Project.
They were joined by a group of other elected officials from both states to talk about the long-awaited Hudson River rail tunnel.
As WCBS 880's Mike Smeltz reported, U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-New Jersey) said while Trump did not give an absolute commitment to funding the Gateway Project, the meeting was a success in his opinion.
"It was a positive meeting," Pallone said.
He said everyone there -- the 17 elected officials from both New Jersey and New York – was able to lay out exactly why the project is critical not only for the region, but the country.
"I think the urgency was probably the most important part of the meeting, to get that point across, and I think he did understand it, yes," Pallone said.
In a statement, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-New Jersey) said President Trump has made plenty of promises on infrastructure that have so far fallen flat, and he would like to see president offer real investment in the Gateway Project, and not just words.
Cuomo also released a statement expressing mixed feelings about the meeting.
"While the White House meeting was productive, it was inconclusive," Cuomo said in the statement. "The leaders from New York and New Jersey reiterated that construction of new passenger rail tunnels under the Hudson is not only urgent, but critical for the entire northeast region and long overdue.
Cuomo continued: "We confirmed our original agreement with the previous administration whereby the Port Authority would finance 50 percent with user fees and the federal government would contribute 50 percent. I also affirmed that it was imperative the project would have to be done using design build like the replacement for the Tappan Zee Bridge, which the President agreed was a success."
