Judge frees federal funds for $16B Gateway rail project

A Manhattan federal judge ruled that the Trump administration’s freeze on roughly $205 million in federal funds for the Gateway Project—an about $16 billion plan to build a new commuter rail tunnel between Manhattan and New Jersey and repair the aging Hudson Tunnel—likely violated legal procedures and policy-change rules. New York and New Jersey argued a halt would stall construction, harm economies and jeopardize about 1,000 jobs. The project has about $15 billion in federal support allocated with nearly $2 billion spent so far; the ruling allows work to resume as the administration’s funding freeze faces scrutiny. The White House did not comment immediately.