This week's journey. The MTA cracked down on a commuter rail fare evasion trick. Ferry service is suspended because of the chunks of ice in the Hudson. We break down how to spot a taxi hustler — and more.
Trump’s Gateway threat burns his working-class supporters
During his 2024 campaign, President Donald Trump claimed undocumented immigrants were taking jobs away from U.S. citizens. But just over a year into his second term, the president himself is on course to take away thousands of construction jobs in New York and New Jersey, many of which are held by people who voted for his return to the White House.
Officials overseeing the buildout of a new set of Hudson River train tunnels, one of the largest public works projects in the country, said this week that they would have to halt the $16 billion project next Friday unless the federal government stops withholding funding for the work.
“This is not you, Mr. Trump, this is not you, this is not what you are about,” Ronald Sirois, an ironworker for 34 years who voted for the president, said at a Gateway commission meeting Tuesday. “I know that.”
A White House spokesperson indicated the money wouldn’t flow unless Democrats in Congress agreed to fully fund Trump’s national crackdown on migrants.
“ When I think about America First Agenda I can think of no better project,” said Mike Hellstrom, a vice president of the Laborers’ International Union of North America. He compared Gateway to the Hoover Dam, the interstate highway system and the moon landing.
“ The Hudson Tunnel is our generation's next big thing,” he said. “ It is the very definition of American first.”
Hellstrom and Sirois were part of a group of union laborers who showed up to Tuesday’s meeting, where officials broke the news that they might soon be out of work. Many of the laborers said they voted for Trump, some in several elections, as he ran campaigns based on deporting immigrants and bolstering wages for the middle class. Gateway employs thousands of union workers across multiple job sites in New York and New Jersey.
The heads of American trade unions have historically backed Democrats. But labor leaders said rank-and-file union members are growing increasingly Republican, despite Trump’s moves that put their jobs at risk.
Norman Brown, a labor boss who’s led the New York State Council of Machinists, said Trump may have won votes by promising to deport immigrants who take American jobs, but killing Gateway could undo that support.
“ Union workers… view the immigrants as rivals to their jobs and his appeal to get rid of them,” Brown said. ”There will be some Trump supporters who peel off and schlep away, pretending that they don't know who they voted for.”
“If he wants to make Biden look good, kill the Gateway project,” he added.
Robert Fawcett, a Local 472 member who worked on an earlier attempt to build new Hudson River tunnels that was canceled by former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in 2010, said Trump’s threat to defund Gateway could upend his colleagues’ lives.
“ I do not see how terminating this project is putting America first,” he said. “It's definitely not putting my union brothers and sisters first. If anything, it's saying they don't matter.”
Santos Rodriguez, the chief of staff of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York, warned that Trump’s move would cost Republicans down the road, including this year’s midterm elections.
“ Playing politics with crucial infrastructure, puts our working people in the crossfires,” Rodriguez said. “When funding stalls, jobs stall, families feel it first, and the broader economy is not far behind.”
Congressional Democrats from New York and New Jersey this week signed a letter to Trump asking him to unlock the funding for the project. No Republicans signed the letter.
Curious Commuter
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“Recently, the MTA changed its ticket policy so that single ride tickets purchased in the TrainTime app now expire at 4 a.m. the next day. You can no longer keep a ticket in your wallet for future use. Why did they do this?”
- Jon from Brooklyn
It’s all about fare evasion. MTA officials last year said they were sick and tired of Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road riders who buy tickets on their phones, but never activate them and score a free ride because they never cross paths with a conductor (sometimes by hiding in the bathroom).
The MTA board last year approved several revisions to the agency’s ticketing policy, along with a fare hike. MTA Commercial Ventures Deputy Chief Jessie Lazarus said at a board meeting in September that amending the system to force digital tickets to expire the next day would root out “opportunistic fare evasion.” New rules now require passengers to activate their ticket before they board the train or face a fine.
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We're also talking about...
Taxi hustlers. Simply put, it’s illegal for drivers to approach someone asking if they need a ride. But that hasn’t stopped an increasing number of drivers — some of whom demand exorbitant rates — from doing it at city airports.
“I don’t want to be in the streets doing other bulls---, so I’d rather do this, make a bit of a living than selling drugs on the street. Who wants to do this s---? Nobody. Would you want to come here and ask a million people for a taxi? I don't wanna do this s---. But I got to pay rent. I got to pay my bills.”
- Muhammed Kursheed, a driver who hustles illegal rides at JFK Airport
Don’t expect a discount train to Albany. Amtrak is restoring full train service between New York City and Albany beginning in March, which means the plan to extend Metro-North to the Capital Region — which would’ve been cheaper than Amtrak — will no longer move forward.
Congestion pricing, more lucrative than expected. The MTA said congestion pricing tolls raked in $562 million after expenses during their first year of operation, exceeding the agency’s initial $500 million target.
Ferries blocked by ice. NYC Ferry service has been suspended due to the big chunks of ice filling the Hudson and East Rivers, and there’s no word when the boats will resume operating.
Pedestrians blocked by snow. The city is asking pedestrians for patience as they clear mounds of snow from sidewalks and bus stops and dump it in roving hot tubs. For people with disabilities and strollers, the removal can’t come quick enough.
