(The Center Square) — New York City’s public transit agency is threatening to sue the Trump administration over its ongoing freeze of federal funding for a long-awaited subway extension project.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said the federal government is withholding nearly $16 billion in congressionally approved funding for the extension of the Second Avenue subway into East Harlem and will be forced to shut the massive construction project down unless the money is released.
In a sharply worded letter to the U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Transit Administration, the MTA accuses the federal government of “illegally” freezing the funding in “past due reimbursements” tied to the project approved by Congress and committed under former President Joe Biden’s administration.
“DOT’s refusal to comply with its payment obligations has jeopardized the Project and placed the MTA in an impossible position, requiring it to plug the gap by diverting critical transportation infrastructure funding from other priorities,” the agency wrote. “Unless all past due reimbursements are paid by March , 202, the MTA will have no choice but to seek expedited judicial relief.”
The MTA’s letter said invoices submitted to the federal government between October and January were never paid, and officials said they had also been locked out of the federal payment system that allows them to pay reimbursement claims.
“DOT’s refusal to comply with its payment obligations has jeopardized the project and placed the MTA in an impossible position, requiring it to plug the gap by diverting critical transportation infrastructure funding from other priorities,” the letter said.
The DOT in 2023 authorized a $3.4 billion grant for the subway extension, covering nearly half of its estimated $7.7 billion price tag for the project, which will add three new stations along the Q line at 10th St, 11th St, and 125th St., according to the MTA.
The threat of fresh litigation over federal funding comes after the Trump administration was forced to release money for the $ billion gateway tunnel project under the Hudson River after a federal judge ruled that the DOT’s decision to withhold those grants was illegal.
Two federal lawsuits were filed challenging Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s move to freeze the funding, and a federal judge ordered the agency to release the funding.
The Trump administration said it froze the funds for both New York projects to review the MTA’s compliance with the Trump administration’s rules for contracting with minority- and women-owned businesses that banned diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
“The department is focusing on these projects because they are arguably the largest infrastructure initiatives in the Western Hemisphere, and the American people want to see them completed quickly and efficiently,” DOT said in a statement at the time.
