New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy Holds Gateway Funding Agreement Signing Event With Top Democrats
Gov. Phil Murphy (D-NJ) is joined by top Democrats to deliver remarks on the gateway funding agreement.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Good morning, everyone. On behalf of Co-Chair Glenn, Co-Chair Graywall-Burke, Vice Chair Tony Kosha, and the entire Board of the GDC,
00:11welcome to the signing ceremony for the Hudson Tunnel Project.
00:16We are here because of the unmatched leadership of President Biden, Majority Leader Schumer, Governors Hochul, Murphy, Senator Booker,
00:26and the entire Congressional Delegation.
00:29Less than two years ago, not a single package of the Hudson Tunnel Project was under construction.
00:36Today, we have construction on both sides of the river, and in a few hours, the very first piece of equipment will show up on the Hudson River
00:44to start the Hudson River ground stabilization.
00:52I want to, in particular, recognize Secretary Buttigieg, Deputy Secretary Trottenberg, Administrators Vanderpool, Bose,
01:01and the entire United States Department of Transportation for giving us unprecedented technical advice.
01:09It is because of that we're here at this moment.
01:12I also want to thank our partners, Chairman O'Toole and Rick Cotton from the Port Authority,
01:24Tony Kosha and Stephen Gardner from Amtrak, and Commissioner O'Connor and Kevin Corbett from New Jersey Transit.
01:31We look forward to working with you over the next several years to build this project.
01:36And to my dogged, true-believing GDC staff, your efforts would be the legacy of this project.
01:47And Governors Hochul and Murphy, you know this, but forgive me for saying that you have two public servants,
01:56and Diane Schacchetti, who took my crazy calls at all hours to get us to solve problems and get us to this point.
02:06History will remember those who led the effort to get us to a point of no return and those who build this project.
02:21Our friends in labor, with whom we have already two project labor agreements,
02:26the thousands of men and women intuitively understand that we're about to build a portal of opportunity
02:34and not just portals of concrete and rebar.
02:38No one has pushed us harder and more focused like a laser than our first speaker,
02:46a champion of the Hudson Tunnel Project, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
03:04He did it.
03:09All right. It is great to be here today.
03:12Let me just – some people have been acknowledged.
03:14There are a few more I want to acknowledge, so I'll do everybody.
03:17Chris Calori, as I said, our great Gateway Development Commissioner.
03:21When I first met him, I was skeptical.
03:24He was from New Jersey.
03:28But Corey was right. He did a great, great job.
03:31Thank you.
03:32With – not here today, but someone who's been a great partner in helping us get all this money,
03:38my partner, friend in the Senate, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.
03:43Let's have a round of applause for her.
03:49A great partner across the river.
03:51And we work so hard for the metropolitan area, which is sort of a seamless baton pass all the time
03:57because Corey Booker is such a great representative not only of New Jersey but of the country.
04:08We have our two great governors.
04:10They're very happy today, as I'll mention in a minute.
04:15And they have been great, great partners.
04:18Not every governor previously was very much for Gateway, as you know, on either side of the river.
04:25But, but, but, but, these two great governors, Hochul and Murphy, have been –
04:32every time you've needed them, they've been there.
04:35They understood that New Jersey and New York getting along was crucial to the future of the metropolitan area.
04:41Thank you, thank you, thank you.
04:42Round of applause for both of them.
04:48Somebody who has known transportation, I think, from the day he came out of the crib,
04:52I think he said Hudson River, a great leader, head of the – a ranking member of the Judiciary Committee now,
05:00but a transportation advocate all the way,
05:03and a great partner who's responsible for so much that's happened in New York transportation-wise, Jerry Nadler.
05:13We have our great Amtrak board chair.
05:16I think he's done a great job, and I've made sure he's stayed as board chair for a long time, Tony Kosha.
05:27Pete Buttigieg lives and breathes transportation.
05:29He couldn't be here today, but again, anytime you call the guy, he calls you back within a couple of hours
05:35and is always there, no BS, anything like that.
05:40And one of the reasons he's great – there are many – he has a great deputy secretary,
05:45a former Schumer staffer for nine years, and then a Moynihan – no, first a Moynihan staffer.
05:53Moynihan, as I always say, when I – he was leaving, he said,
05:56Schumer, I'm going to give you, and in Moynihan language, a gift, Polly Trottenberg.
06:03And she sure was a gift.
06:10Our acting administrator, the FTA administrator, Vanderpool from the Bronx.
06:17She told me Castle Hill.
06:20She went to the same great high school as Sonia Sotomayor, and that's great.
06:26We also have Amit Bose, the FRA administrator.
06:31Where's Amit? I didn't see him.
06:33Ah, there you are.
06:36We have three former – two former Schumer staffers who now work on Gateway,
06:42and they did a great job working for me, and they're in the right place to make sure this happens,
06:47and that is Rob Hickman and Leanne Sinpatanasekul.
06:52I think I finally got that right after all those years.
06:57Alicia Glenn is here on the Gateway Development Board,
07:01always caring about our area from the Port Authority, a bi-state agency.
07:09Rick Cotton and Mr. O'Toole.
07:15And one of the most important – not the only, but most important reasons we're doing this is for labor.
07:21We made sure that every bit of this tunnel is built by well-qualified, well-paid construction labor here.
07:31Union people, raise your hands and a round of applause for all of you.
07:35There are too many to mention.
07:37I'm a labor guy all the way.
07:39Okay.
07:40So it's great to be here.
07:42Today we're here to announce – really, this time it's real –
07:47to cross the finish line on one of the most challenging and most important milestones for Gateway,
07:54what's called in Washington the FFGA, and what stands – it stands for the Federal Full Funding Grant Agreement.
08:03The Gateway race was truly a marathon, with its twists, its turns, its bumps.
08:10But we laced up, we kept up the pace, and we made it.
08:17So today, I'm proud to say the massive $6.8 billion infusion of federal funds,
08:26the light at the end of the Gateway tunnel, is signed, sealed, and delivered.
08:33And – you know I always have something.
08:43It has a cherry on top.
08:47Why is it a cherry? This is for the governors.
08:50Because originally our deal was the federal government would pay 50 percent.
08:54We are paying 70 percent, which means New Jersey and New York taxpayers have to pay less.
09:04Every time I've been here in the past, I've held up a hard hat.
09:07So my great press guy Angelo said, I got something new, cherries.
09:11I said, oh, okay. Here they are, folks. It's a cherry on top.
09:15A lot of cherries. 70 percent is a lot of cherries.
09:20And I'll leave them here for anyone, any of the next speakers who would like to indulge.
09:26So, furthermore, construction now has begun on both sides of the Hudson.
09:32It's all systems go. No turning back.
09:36But let me take a step back for a second.
09:39When I took on Gateway, when it was do or die trying,
09:44I made an announcement that I would deliver the federal government at 50 percent of the cost.
09:50And I knew if we really worked hard, we could get it higher.
09:54So today we can shout it out.
09:56The federal share of Gateway is now more than 70 percent.
10:01This is unheard of, but I'm majority leader.
10:05This is New York. We go big.
10:08Today, 6.8 billion FFGA allows other funds that I announced previously with my colleagues.
10:15And it brings the federal total to 11 billion dollars.
10:19So that's 11 billion plus 70 percent Fed share.
10:23These are hard dollars which will translate into hard hats working on the job.
10:30And, again, I want to thank my partners, the governors of New York and New Jersey,
10:34who have put in a significant amount of dollars as well to make this happen.
10:39Thank you, thank you, thank you.
10:41With today's lock on the FFGA, New York and New Jersey can now free up extra money to put into other transit funds.
10:49So, this is huge for mass transit and transportation across New York.
10:54And my strategy in the bipartisan infrastructure and jobs law was always to try and craft it
11:01so New York Fed dollars would be maximized.
11:04And let's face it.
11:06Gateway is the most consequential infrastructure proposal in all of America.
11:13As many of you know, for a long time now, this project has been my passion.
11:18It's been a labor of love.
11:20Ever since Governor Christie pulled out the funds, I knew we had to do something.
11:25There were lots of twists and turns.
11:27Donald Trump said, you build the wall, maybe I'll give you Gateway.
11:31I told him, NFW, we're going to get this done on our own.
11:35And after many false starts and obstacles placed in our way, Gateway is full speed ahead.
11:40All systems go.
11:42We know why it's so important.
11:44The rail tunnels under the Hudson River are an essential artery
11:47that moves countless people and goods along the entire eastern seaboard.
11:51If the artery gets backed up, the heart of our national economy ceases to pump.
11:56America would go into recession overnight.
11:59Millions of people would lose their jobs.
12:01The GW bridge, the Holland and Lincoln tunnels would be jammed with traffic bumper to bumper 24-7.
12:07Pollution would exponentially increase.
12:10So, Gateway was a huge priority.
12:13And a lot of these points and why and how I led the bipartisan infrastructure
12:18and jobs law to passage is these reasons, but there were many others.
12:24Across the country, every week, senators, congressmen are cutting ribbons
12:30and putting shovels in the ground to rebuild our infrastructure.
12:34And President Biden gets a tremendous, tremendous amount of credit
12:38for pushing that priority and so many others.
12:41It's good for New York, good for America.
12:47The President knows this.
12:49Look, we're a country that can and should do big projects like Gateway.
12:54And the Hudson Tunnel project now moves into full construction.
12:58That's it.
12:59We spent a lot of time getting here, but because of its importance,
13:03Gateway's been a mission and I want to assure all the people here working on it,
13:07any bumps in the road, logs on the tracks, you'll have Senator Schumer
13:12as well as my colleagues making sure that this goes forward to full completion.
13:17No ands, ifs, or buts.
13:22So, we're here.
13:25I brought the President here to see it a while back, you may remember.
13:28The Trump administration delayed the work for years, as I mentioned,
13:32but we never backed down and now there's no turning back.
13:36I was told now the number of, we said 72,000 direct jobs,
13:41but Chris just said it's up to 95,000 jobs.
13:4595,000 jobs.
13:47Every one of those people who's working on this gets a good paycheck.
13:50They spend it in the stores, in the restaurants, and all the others.
13:53So, it's pumping money into the New York, New Jersey economy
13:57in a way we've hardly ever seen before.
13:59It's a great thing.
14:00It's all systems go.
14:02Thank you, everybody.
14:04Thank you.
14:11Please welcome New Jersey Senator, the Honorable Cory Booker.
14:19Chuck, your speech was a stem winder, but your prop was the pits, man.
14:25Sorry.
14:27What do you call a guy, like me, that has no kids,
14:29but tells dad jokes, anyway?
14:32faux pas.
14:34OK, OK.
14:35I'm here all week.
14:39I want to thank Chuck Schumer for his extraordinary
14:42leadership to have a New York senator who's also
14:45the leader of the United States Senate.
14:48It's one of the reasons this project has gotten done.
14:51He was right to thank his wingwoman, Kirsten Gillibrand.
14:55I, of course, want to give a lot of thanks
14:57to New Jersey's senior senator who, but for his leadership,
15:01we would not be here in Bob Menendez.
15:03Of course, I'm standing before two of the greatest governors
15:07this region has ever seen in Hochul and Murphy.
15:12And I tell you, I know this from my personal interactions
15:14with Phil Murphy, this was a laser priority and focus
15:20for him.
15:20And again, these governors, without their support,
15:23we would not be here.
15:24But I want to make it clear, I was
15:26a senator for the last decade.
15:28I've been working on this project
15:30since the day I walked into office.
15:32I still remember having Obama's Secretary of Transportation
15:35in my office with our then governor
15:38working on this project.
15:40It was so frustrating to me when President Trump came in
15:43and blocked the process.
15:45We couldn't even get environmental reviews.
15:47If there's any reason we're here today,
15:50it's because when President Joe Biden was elected,
15:53he said this is the number one infrastructure project
15:57in the United States of America.
15:58And I want to thank President Joe Biden for his focus,
16:02for his commitment, and for helping us
16:04in Congress, in the Senate, to deliver what we see today.
16:08Please give him one more round of applause.
16:09And I know this is a regional project.
16:15People think of it in that way.
16:17They think of it as a project between New York and New
16:19Jersey, but that's simply not true.
16:21This is a great American project.
16:25This region of New York and New Jersey
16:28is the most economically productive region
16:31in all of America and one of the most economically productive
16:35regions in all of the world.
16:38Investments here pay dividends.
16:40In fact, a dollar in our regional infrastructure
16:44bring back $4 of economic growth.
16:48This Northeast Corridor, when it's choked,
16:51it clogs up the entire Northeastern seaboard.
16:54We know that it's only about 2% of the landmass of America,
17:00but it is 20% of our economic strength.
17:04If there is going to be a strong, a successful,
17:08an economically powerful area of the United States of America,
17:13this is it.
17:14And so investments here for the American taxpayer
17:17pay dividends for us all.
17:19When it comes to American economy, American jobs,
17:22when it comes to American well-being,
17:25America's quality of life, this is
17:27the region that fuels an outsized proportion
17:30of our country's strength.
17:32And so today is a celebration of who we are.
17:36We as a nation, from our canal systems
17:39to the transcontinental railroad,
17:40we are a nation.
17:43From aviation and to sailing the seas and shipping,
17:46we are a nation that has always said that we are
17:50going to show the world a way.
17:53And so today is a day of making investments,
17:56the biggest investment of taxpayers
17:59in a transportation project ever.
18:01This is a day that we come back to being
18:03who we say we are, a nation that invests in itself
18:08so we can grow our nation, grow our economy,
18:11and continue to lead the world.
18:13And I'll tell you this.
18:15What makes me particularly excited
18:18is that this is just not an infrastructure investment.
18:21It's just not for the overall economy.
18:24The dollars being invested here will
18:26create tens of thousands of union jobs,
18:30affecting hundreds of thousands of people, families,
18:33and children who will not only see
18:35solid jobs and solid well-being, but good health care
18:39and a brighter future.
18:41When we invest in ourselves, the dividends that we pay
18:44cannot be measured.
18:46This region, for decades to come,
18:49will benefit from this investment.
18:52And so I close with a simple understanding
18:54said by a man far greater than any of us
18:57who will speak today, which was Martin Luther King.
18:59He said it in a spiritual sense, the truth
19:03about the power and interconnectedness of us all.
19:06He said in the letters in the Birmingham jail
19:08that we are all caught in an inescapable network
19:11of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.
19:16Well, that is true in the spiritual sense,
19:18but we must make it true in reality.
19:20We must make it true in our lives,
19:22our connections to one another, the community
19:24that we create at a time that there's
19:26so many shearing forces trying to drive our country apart.
19:29Well, this today, we celebrate that spiritual truth
19:33in practical, measurable ways.
19:35We deepen our connectivity.
19:38We strengthen our network.
19:41We say to the present and point and say in the present
19:44and point to the future that better days are ahead.
19:47A tighter, greater community is before us.
19:50And we in America are making these states even more united.
19:54Thank you.
20:02Please welcome New York Governor the Honorable Kathy Hochul.
20:05Thank you.
20:13I have a question for Majority Leader Schumer,
20:15if he's still in earshot.
20:18What if we got up to 75%, 80%?
20:21Could we get a really big bag of cherries?
20:24I think that'd be fabulous.
20:25But no, I'm grateful to him.
20:26I want to say this.
20:28There are so many extraordinary public servants
20:32at every level who made this happen.
20:36And to recognize that it starts at the very top.
20:41If you don't have a president of the United States of America
20:45who's committed to this, it doesn't happen.
20:49So yes, we will give praise to President Biden.
20:54I think we give him a huge round of applause
20:56for not just loving Amtrak, loving trains,
20:59but being truly the embodiment of what an infrastructure
21:04president actually is and does.
21:07Let's give President Biden a round of applause.
21:13And this is about partnership.
21:16Don't take for granted that it's easy between two states,
21:21for example.
21:23We love New Jersey.
21:24New Jersey loves New York.
21:25But sometimes it's like brothers and sisters.
21:28Anybody come from a big family?
21:30You know what I'm talking about.
21:31So to pull it together, to say that, yes, there
21:36have been four presidents and five governors between our two
21:39states who just said it's too hard,
21:42we can't get it done and moved on to the next crisis,
21:45let's give credit to the people behind our governors, those
21:50who make the magic happen.
21:51And Phil Murphy, thank you.
21:53From our very first days in office,
21:55and I've been here just going on three years now,
21:57we said we have the power between us
22:00to work with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who
22:03has dreamed of this day and made it happen,
22:06and people like Jerry Nadler and our congressional delegation.
22:09But if the governors were not on board, my friends,
22:12we'd all be doing something different right now.
22:15So Phil Murphy, thank you for the spirit of friendship
22:19that says we can sit around a table.
22:21We can collaborate.
22:23We can make the magic happen.
22:26So thank you.
22:26And thank you to Chris Collori, this bi-state guy
22:30that we both love.
22:31You've done an amazing job.
22:32Tony Kosher with Amtrak, we need your leadership as well.
22:36And also, to those in the Biden administration,
22:40yes, it's our president, yes, it's
22:42our vice president, and Secretary Buttigieg,
22:44who came here many, many times.
22:46And yes, he must be on the phone with people from New York
22:48all day long because he's always talking to me as well,
22:51and the senator and everybody.
22:52We appreciate that level of engagement.
22:55But also, to have someone like Polly Trottenberg right there
23:00as a leader.
23:01I want to thank you, Polly, because your voice
23:03on behalf of this region, yes, the whole country,
23:05but you have made a profound difference as well.
23:08And I want to thank you for that.
23:09Veronica Vanderpool, again, New York is really in the house,
23:14isn't it?
23:14And I'm really grateful that all of you
23:16know what we're talking about.
23:18You know what we're talking about.
23:19You know how critical this is, and so you and your teams
23:22have made this happen.
23:23My team is extraordinary.
23:26My team, Catherine Garcia, who would be here,
23:29except she's across the Great Pond
23:30watching her daughter get married.
23:32We let her take a pass for that.
23:34But what she did, and her team, and Commissioner Dominguez,
23:38Marie-Therese Dominguez, our commissioner of DOT,
23:40thank you.
23:41Thank you to everyone.
23:43And Kevin O'Toole and Rick Cotton,
23:46you guys do extraordinary work.
23:47You're the unsung heroes who keep
23:49things moving in this region, and I'll never
23:52take that for granted.
23:54Senator Booker, have a nice trip.
23:58Had to get on the road.
23:59I guess the senators are a little bit busy today,
24:01but also just so many others.
24:03Locally, Mark Levine is here.
24:05We have representation, the deputy mayor
24:07from the city of New York as well.
24:09Let me just say this.
24:13Today is a historic day.
24:15There's no doubt about it.
24:17We have moved into places that others thought was impossible.
24:22We have seen this through.
24:25And what this says is that New York and New Jersey,
24:28this region, still has the boldness, the audacity of
24:34visions where others do not.
24:37This is on the scale of the Erie Canal.
24:41How many years, my friends?
24:43200 years ago next year.
24:45You need to get up and celebrate this.
24:47It is still an engineering feat that
24:49is revered around the world.
24:52That's the scale of what we're doing here.
24:56Tunnels that were built in 1910 that
24:59were ravaged by Hurricane Sandy.
25:02And people said, well, stuff happens, right?
25:06No, you find the investment, you find the partners,
25:09and you make $16 billion of investment happen.
25:13And yes, I'll say it again, because you heard it before.
25:1695,000 good paying jobs for this region is phenomenal.
25:22To the men and women of labor, let's give them
25:24a huge round of applause, because they're
25:26the ones building back our region, one tunnel at a time.
25:31$20 billion of economic impact.
25:36What does that look like?
25:38Oh, our local businesses are so excited about families
25:41having more money in their pockets
25:43when times are tough, that they're
25:45going to spend on entertainment, and restaurants,
25:48and their kids' education.
25:50That's what economic development and money is all about.
25:54So I just want to say this.
25:57We have shown what we're capable here.
26:00We also have a president who invests in us.
26:03You heard it before, but this is the largest
26:06federal infrastructure investment, not just today.
26:11But in American history, and I'm
26:14going to put a little side note on that,
26:17New York is simultaneously benefiting
26:19from the largest private sector investment in American history
26:24with Micron, $100 billion of investment
26:27going on just up the road.
26:29Again, thank you to the Biden administration.
26:33Thank you to Majority Leader Schumer and his partners,
26:35Gillibrand and others, who've gotten this
26:37over the finish line.
26:39So sit back, everybody.
26:41Enjoy the magic of this moment, because it may not
26:45happen again in your lifetime.
26:48This confluence, a president who gets it,
26:51who knows how to get things done,
26:52and will continue to get things done,
26:54and also partners in the leadership
26:56that we have with the leadership at the highest
26:59levels in the Senate, and two governors
27:03who know what friendship, and camaraderie,
27:05and the spirit of cooperation can do for a region.
27:09So go forth, celebrate, honor this day,
27:14and know that you are all witnesses to history
27:17that generations look back to with a sense of gratitude
27:20and says, yes, they continue that legacy
27:24of bold, audacious people from this region who would never
27:27take no for an answer.
27:29Thank you very much, everyone.
27:31Please welcome New Jersey Governor, the Honorable Phil
27:34Murphy.
27:40Good morning, everyone.
27:41Governor Hochul, as you leave, I want
27:43to reiterate your very warm words
27:46and the substance of a very, very outstanding relationship.
27:51And this project is a great example of that.
27:54So I want to thank Governor Hochul and her team
27:56on behalf of the entire state of New Jersey
27:59and I want to thank Governor Hochul and her team
28:01on behalf of my team in the Jersey side of the Hudson
28:05for an extraordinary partnership on this
28:07and on so many other matters.
28:10As they say, protocol has been established,
28:12so I'm not going to go through and thank
28:14by name the now seemingly hundreds of individuals
28:18who deserve credit.
28:19I do want to single out President Joe
28:21Biden and his administration, and Polly and Veronica,
28:24thank you for representing the president and vice
28:27president and secretary so graciously.
28:30It really matters to have a guy who
28:33understands the rails at the top of the totem pole
28:36in this country.
28:38And I can say that with experience
28:39because like Chuck and Corey and Jerry and others,
28:43I dealt with the last administration on this project
28:47and I dealt with the current, the Biden administration,
28:50and it's literally night and day.
28:53And I can't thank them enough.
28:54And by the way, our side of the Hudson
28:56historically has not covered itself
28:58in glory on this project.
28:59So I'm honored to be here represented a new day dawning,
29:04not just in general, but on the Jersey side of the house.
29:09I was on with some colleagues last night,
29:11and they said, what do you got for Monday morning?
29:14And I said, I'm heading into New York City for an event outdoors.
29:18And they said, what the heck are you doing that for in the middle
29:21of July in New York City?
29:23I said, it isn't every day that somebody hands you
29:25a check for $6.8 billion.
29:27So I'll go anywhere for that, Polly.
29:29I want you to know that.
29:31I'm incredibly honored to be here.
29:33And I'm going to sit down after I speak, by the way.
29:36I want to hear the rest of you to make
29:37sure I didn't miss anything.
29:40I'll just make it simple other than thanking the president,
29:42thanking our brothers and sisters in labor
29:44and all the other very important individuals here today.
29:48It's very easy on a project like this
29:51to make it feel abstract.
29:5595,000 jobs, 20% of the nation's GDP, $20 billion
30:00of economic activity, on and on and on.
30:06You hear words like resilient, redundant, reliable.
30:10Those are all big concepts in big numbers.
30:13I think we need to focus on what this
30:16will do to individual lives, to the operating engineer who's
30:20going to operate this piece of equipment behind me
30:22and his or her family, to the person trying to get into New
30:26York City from Jersey to get to work on time
30:29or to get to school on time, for that person who
30:32has been dying for the one-seat ride out of Westfield, New
30:36Jersey, which is finally going to become a reality.
30:40Remember, this is not just about building two new tunnels.
30:44It's about rehabbing the two that exist.
30:46By the way, they were built, I don't
30:48think Chuck was the majority leader then in 1910.
30:52I only can say that because he's gone.
30:55But this is a game changer.
30:57The mom and dad who want to get home and have
31:01dinner with their kids or help them out on their math
31:03homework, I think we need to think of this not just
31:06in the wow, big number reality, what
31:09it will do for this region, for both of our great states,
31:12but also the lives that will be transformed.
31:16And it won't be overnight.
31:17It'll take time.
31:19I was born in Boston and grew up outside of Boston.
31:22And that still gets me no votes in New Jersey.
31:25But I was also growing up during the so-called Big Dig,
31:28which went on forever.
31:30This feels like it's gone on forever,
31:32but it's finally actually happening.
31:34And it got so frustrating in Boston,
31:36they actually hired a public relations firm.
31:38And their theme was, if Rome had been built in a day,
31:41we would have hired their contractor.
31:43So that's the last thing I'd ask everybody.
31:45Please have some patience.
31:47This is not going to be overnight.
31:48But when it finally hits, it will transform, literally,
31:52millions of lives.
31:54And I'm honored to be a part of that.
31:55God bless you all.
31:56Thank you.
32:03Please welcome the congressman from New York
32:05and ranking member of the Judiciary Committee,
32:07Jerry Nadler.
32:09Well, thank you very much.
32:14Today's announcement marks an extraordinary milestone
32:18for transit riders across the Northeast Corridor,
32:22if not for helicopter riders, and for the future
32:25economic development of our region.
32:28With full funding agreements signed and the railroad
32:31rehabilitation program, we are now
32:34of our region.
32:35With full funding agreements signed
32:36and the railroad rehabilitation and improvement financing
32:40loans secured, I'm proud to say that the most
32:43important transportation infrastructure
32:45project in our country is now moving full speed ahead.
32:50As a longtime champion of the project,
32:51I'm grateful that the Biden administration is investing
32:54a record-breaking $14 billion and showing the world
32:59that our federal government can tackle
33:01massive transformative transportation projects
33:04like Gateway.
33:05I'm especially thankful to Secretary Buttigieg,
33:08Deputy Secretary Trottenberg, and others
33:11in the Biden administration for prioritizing this once
33:14in a generation project.
33:17With today's announcement, we're one step,
33:19one major step closer to expanding reliability,
33:23resiliency, and redundancy on the most heavily used
33:26passenger rail lines in the world.
33:29And we're a major step closer to creating 95,000 jobs,
33:33nearly $20 billion in economic activity,
33:36and securing our regional and national economy.
33:41And I'd like to echo what Governor Murphy said,
33:45what a significant change a change in administration
33:51makes, from the Trump administration, which
33:54tried to kill this project, to the Biden administration
33:59that is supporting this project, that is pushing this project,
34:02and that has shown a level of awareness and of energy
34:07behind transformative infrastructure
34:10throughout the country.
34:12I'm grateful for everyone here whose work and dedication
34:15to this vital project enabled us to reach this milestone.
34:18Together, we're creating a more prosperous future
34:21for our region and our nation.
34:23And I look forward to continuing to work with everyone to do so.
34:27Thank you.
34:28Thank you.
34:35Please welcome Gateway Development Commission Vice
34:38Chair and Amtrak Board Chair, Tony Kosha.
34:46Thank you.
34:48It really is amazing to be here.
34:50And to those of you who are frequently at these events,
34:55you're probably saying, wait a minute.
34:56him again, because I've actually been with this project for a very, very long time.
35:02So I can't convey to you how much this means to me personally, having seen leadership really
35:08bring something that in many instances seemed like it would never happen to fruition.
35:13And I know several of the speakers, and I know the governor commented on this, talked about the importance of this project.
35:20We live in, and I have the good fortune of having grown up and spent my entire adult life here.
35:25We live in an amazing part of the country.
35:27We live in an amazing region.
35:29But this project is really significant, not just to New York and New Jersey, but to the whole country.
35:34You've heard other speakers talk about the impact on the national economy that the Northeast Corridor has.
35:39These numbers are clear, and they have an unbelievable impact on the ability of our national economy to prosper.
35:46And so this project is not just about New Jersey commuters getting into New York, or New York commuters getting out of New York City.
35:53It's about people from Philadelphia, it's about people from up and down the East Coast, from Boston.
35:58It's about the importance of mobility to a region having the kind of growth opportunity, and that this project makes that possible.
36:06Now, I know that you've now heard several speakers thank people, and the truth is I'm going to repeat some of that.
36:13But I was growing up in a house where I definitely have to thank people who did something for me.
36:18And in many ways, I feel that way about some of the people I'm about to mention.
36:22Let's start with the President.
36:24The President of the United States has played a direct role in this project happening.
36:29We are here today because of his direct involvement, his desire to say this will happen,
36:35his understanding of what it means to this region, to the country, and that is not something to be overlooked in any way.
36:41And clearly, we have Deputy Secretary Polly Trottenberg here, and
36:46the acting administrator of the FTA, all basically demonstrating
36:51the level of commitment this administration has made across so many different levels.
36:56Let me now move to Senator Schumer, who's gone and won't hear this.
36:58So I'm not sure whether I should use this as my opportunity to say things I wouldn't have the courage to say in front of him or not.
37:06But the reality is that there were times in this project where, to those of us who were advancing it, we felt pretty lonely.
37:13But there was always one other person in the room, and that was Chuck Schumer.
37:17And that is a great ally to have when you are in a foxhole and the odds are against you.
37:22Because I have to tell you, there is no question that his advocacy for this project is the reason why we are here,
37:28is the reason why these funding levels for a project that does, in fact, have national significance, has that kind of national funding.
37:35When people travel over the world, they'll always come back and tell me, as the Amtrak chair,
37:39gee, these great train systems exist in all these other places, why can't we have that here?
37:45One of the reasons why we need to get to that point is the level of federal commitment to a national passenger rail system.
37:52Chuck Schumer's the guy who understood that, not just on this project, but nationally, and
37:56has been an advocate for passenger rail in Amtrak, and very specifically for this project and the impact it has.
38:03You heard from Senator Booker, who also has been there the entire way.
38:07This kind of advocacy in the United States Senate, in the Congress, has meant the world to us.
38:12And that's true of the Congressional delegation, a number of whom are here.
38:16I know Congressman Menendez is right here in the front row.
38:19His current work on the T&I Committee is very much continuing that tradition of support for this region that we've enjoyed.
38:26And let me say something about the two governors, because I've now, between my service on the Port Authority and
38:32my service at Amtrak, I've spent a number of hours with governors on both sides of the aisle.
38:38We have two very thoughtful, hardworking, intelligent governors who understand it's not about them, but about the work that we do.
38:47Governor Murphy and Governor Hochul, from day one, have been strong advocates of this project,
38:52have deployed their resources across the board in order to make it happen.
38:56And Chris Collori mentioned two people that I have to mention as well, which is Diane Schichetti, who's here.
39:02Catherine Garcia, who the governor mentioned, is in Europe celebrating her great family moment.
39:07They have been hands-on, engaged in this project all the way through.
39:12At the most difficult moments, they've spent the most amount of time.
39:15I'm grateful to both of them.
39:17Polly and Veronica, again, it is unbelievably valuable to us to pick up the phone,
39:24call people, and have someone on the other side not trying to put up an obstacle,
39:28not telling us about the forms we didn't fill out or the things we didn't do, but creatively thinking about how we can resolve those things.
39:35So we are all very grateful to all that you've done.
39:39I also want to thank my former colleagues at the Port Authority.
39:45Chairman O'Toole and Rick Cotton are here today.
39:50They have really stepped up in a major way to make this project happen.
39:55But let me also say, as someone who spent eight years at the Port Authority,
40:00the Port Authority today is marching on all cylinders.
40:04The two of them have done an unbelievable job in bringing together the two states and getting major projects done.
40:11This region is very, very fortunate to have the Port Authority, and the Port Authority is very fortunate to have Chairman O'Toole and Rick Cotton leading it.
40:18And for that, we should all be grateful.
40:21And then finally, let me also thank my colleagues at Amtrak.
40:25Stephen Gardner, our CEO, is here with me today.
40:28Stephen's leadership has taken Amtrak to a whole new level, operating systems throughout the country in a way where we are investing record numbers,
40:36not just here in New York, but around the country on major projects.
40:39And Stephen has always made the time and always been directly engaged on this project,
40:44as has Laura Mason, our Director of Capital Programs, who's here also today.
40:49And a number of other people at the company, including Roger Harris, our CEO and our President, excuse me, and others, all of whom have played a big role.
40:59Let me say a few things about the scale of Gateway, because we are building a modern four-track system that is on a scale
41:07that will accomplish something that's never been accomplished anywhere in the world.
41:11We are basically building nowhere else in the world has an infrastructure owner or operator sought to double service.
41:18Double service and infrastructure capacity while simultaneously running an intense mix of inner city and
41:24commuter rail services on a railroad that's over a century old.
41:28It would be fantastic if we could somehow shut down the entire system and build this, but that's not what we're doing.
41:34We're doubling train capacity in the most intensely operated train infrastructure in the world,
41:40something that has really never been done anywhere in the world.
41:43Today we operate 450 trains a day in New Jersey Transit and Amtrak.
41:47When the full Gateway program is built, we will be operating 900 trains a day,
41:52almost 500,000 passenger trips a day.
41:56This is unbelievable levels that has not happened.
41:59And with that will come expanded peak service at times when people need it.
42:03The one seat ride for virtually all routes that are served into the region will be available.
42:09Not to mention added capacity to do things like service directly to Amtrak's, excuse me,
42:14service directly to Long Island, service to Scranton, Pennsylvania.
42:18Added frequencies between New York and Virginia and North Carolina, and of course, expanding the Empire service here in New York.
42:26To those of us who've been around this for a while, we realize that people experience the system,
42:33and they experience what happens in the system, and I know we've all had that experience of sort of saying,
42:39gee, I wish somebody would do something about this, whether it's delayed trains,
42:45or not enough service, or something that happens that makes our life just a little bit more difficult.
42:52Well, there's a difference, I have to say, between complaining about doing something and actually doing something about it.
42:58There's also a difference between accepting legacy problems that evolved over decades and doing something about those legacy problems.
43:06There's a difference between blaming people for a problem and not accepting responsibility and doing something about that.
43:12Well, today is really about doing something.
43:15Now, we're not going to build this thing overnight, it's going to take some time, but I'll tell you two things about that.
43:21One is that we're not going to make this project move faster by not starting it and just talking about it some more.
43:27And the second thing I'll tell you is that with every shovel of dirt, with every ton of steel,
43:33with every yard of concrete, we move closer to proving that we can do something about making the condition better.
43:40Those activities, a project of this magnitude, the scale we're talking about that will transform the region, doesn't just build this tunnel.
43:47It creates the incentive to operate our trains better, for all of us to make sure that the outages,
43:52some of which we've experienced in recent weeks, don't happen.
43:55To be creative about finding ways to get the assets that we currently operate to make it until new assets can replace them.
44:02And to bring that kind of creativity and hard work into serving the people who need it very much.
44:07It's all about doing something, it's not about complaining, it's not about pointing fingers at people.
44:12It's about stepping up and making things happen.
44:15Today is a day where we're celebrating that happening, and all of us, I think, are going to benefit from it.
44:21Thank you very much.
44:27Please welcome Acting Administrator for the Federal Transit Administration, Veronica Vanderpool.
44:37Boy, what a day.
44:40It is so nice to look out into this audience and see so many champions,
44:45advocates, supporters, and transit leaders who have brought us to this moment.
44:50It is not every day you get all of us together sitting in a parking lot with helicopters above us.
44:55But it is a rare moment where we are celebrating
45:00the largest grant in the history of the Department of Transportation.
45:05I want to start by thanking Governors Murphy and Hochul for their support that led to the creation of the Gateway Development Corporation.
45:13Let's rewind.
45:15There were so many steps and so many actions that needed to be taken in order to be at this juncture today.
45:22I want to thank Chris Calori for his support.
45:25You took this and turned it into a juggernaut, Chris.
45:30Thanks to all the members of Congress, and especially Majority Leader Schumer,
45:35whose steadfast championship of this project and
45:39of transit in this region will be defining legacies of his career.
45:45And I want to thank Chairman Kosha for his support in working so closely with the Department of Transportation.
45:52I want to acknowledge FTA's regional team, led by Michael Collada,
45:57and their significant role in this historic moment.
46:01There are dozens of FTA colleagues who have spent innumerable professional and
46:07personal hours working on this project.
46:10And I can't name them all, but what I do want you to know is that this project has touched all of the Department of Transportation.
46:18With the committed support of our Secretary, Pete Buttigieg, and of course,
46:22the committed support and steadfast championship of our Deputy Secretary, Polly Tottenberg.
46:28I want to thank Federal Rail Administrator, Amit Bose, and
46:32Deputy Administrator Jennifer Mitchell, and many others within FRA for your partnership.
46:38And I also want to thank Morteza Farajian for the recent efforts of the Build America Bureau in closing the loans supporting this project.
46:47Which at a combined $4.1 billion will be the largest bureau financing commitment to one project.
46:55So you've heard by now that I'm from the Bronx.
46:58If you know this area, you can hear it.
47:01And as a native of the Bronx, it fills me with such pride to come back to my city.
47:07And sign the guarantee for the largest grants agreement in the history of the Department of Transportation.
47:15Not the largest grant in the history of the Federal Transit Administration, which is indeed true, but within the entire Department of Transportation.
47:22$6.88 billion to help build a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River.
47:29And while the grants and the tunnel are important,
47:33what I want to highlight is the real life impacts of this infrastructure.
47:37And Governor Murphy, thank you so much for noting that as well.
47:41You kicked that sentiment off, and I want to continue with that.
47:46So before joining the Biden-Harris administration, I spent ten years as a non-profit leader of an advocacy organization.
47:53Calling for the federal investment and political support in transportation that we celebrate today.
47:59And I want to shout out the advocates, because advocates are an important part of getting these projects advanced and done.
48:06And holding our elected and political and appointed leaders, like ourselves, accountable.
48:12And every day since, I have worked to improve America's communities through public transportation.
48:18But it's more important when you come back, and it's more impactful when you come back with billions of dollars to add to that mission.
48:25So our investment isn't just about building a tunnel, it's building a better tomorrow.
48:31That is what we're celebrating here today.
48:33Not a check, not tunnel boring machines, not rails that would touch the shores of Jersey and the heart of Manhattan.
48:41But we're celebrating people.
48:43We are celebrating 95,000 people whose lives will be changed by good union paying jobs.
48:50That strengthen economic livelihoods in New York and New Jersey.
48:54Because transportation investments generate a four to one return.
48:59210,000 people each day whose lives will be richer as they spend time with family and
49:05friends instead of waiting for delayed trains.
49:09Railroad workers who will be safer as they travel back and forth through new modern tunnels.
49:14Half a million people in New Jersey travel through these tunnels into New York, where they work jobs in Midtown and throughout the city.
49:22Tens of thousands of manufacturers, builders, restaurant owners, and
49:26others will see positive spinoffs from the $20 billion in economic activity from this project.
49:33And taking a bird's eye view, 22% of the US total economic
49:38output comes from the 450 mile long corridor this tunnel will connect.
49:45So today we are celebrating every person warned by the economic fire that is the Northeast Corridor.
49:53And today we really do celebrate connecting people to everything that matters.
49:58So as a New Yorker who saw access to the region's core come and go, I know we can all take a look back at the past.
50:06But don't be misled by false narratives about this project,
50:12not going to Penn Station.
50:15This is a transformational generational project.
50:20The Biden-Harris administration is making an incredible investment in the region we call home here today.
50:28Thanks to the leaders here and to President Biden's unwavering focus on investing in America and
50:35investing in people through the bipartisan infrastructure law.
50:39Getting to that future will be more prosperous, safer, more reliable.
50:45And I look forward to taking that trip with all of you.
50:48And who knows, maybe we'll travel in trains that go through the Chuck Schumer Tunnel.
50:53I don't know.
50:55Thanks to all.
51:00Please welcome Deputy Secretary of the United States Department of Transportation, Polly Trottenberg.
51:10It is a hot day, I'll admit it, but it is a wonderful day.
51:16It is so wonderful to be here home in my happy place in New York City on behalf of the Biden-Harris administration,
51:23Secretary Buttigieg, and all of us at the US Department of Transportation,
51:28as we celebrate a moment for the gateway project that I think many of us have been anticipating for years.
51:36I know we've done a lot of thank yous here today.
51:38We'll try and keep mine quick, but of course, I do want to thank a few people again.
51:42Of course, starting with Senate Majority Leader, my old boss, Chuck Schumer,
51:46who, as everyone said, was the driving force for so many years in this project.
51:51Senator Booker, Congressman Nadler, Congressman Menendez, and the delegations from both New York and New Jersey.
51:58The two extraordinary governors, and I think a lot of us, as Chairman Kosher was saying,
52:02a lot of us in our roles throughout the years have worked with a lot of governors across the Hudson River.
52:07And Governors Hochul and Murphy have one of the most extraordinary partnerships.
52:12They have stepped up every step of the way on this project.
52:15It has been great for their states, it's been great for the region, and it's been great for the country.
52:19Thank you, governors.
52:24Let me also share in the praise of Chris Calori and the amazing team at the Gateway Development Commission.
52:31In two short years, what they have accomplished is nothing short of miraculous.
52:36The team spirit, the drive to get things done, the problem solving, it's second to none.
52:41I love being by the heliport.
52:43Well, let this helicopter land.
52:45I'm glad I'm not wearing my FAA hat today.
52:48You all would be yelling at me.
52:51Thank you, Chris, and thank you to the Gateway Development Commission board.
52:54I know we have some board members here, including co-chair Alicia Glenn, my former deputy mayor in the de Blasio administration.
53:00And we have our current deputy mayor, Mary Yoshi, here.
53:03Thank you, Amtrak Chair Tony Kosha and CEO Stephen Gardner.
53:08Thank you, New Jersey Transit President Kevin Corbett.
53:11Of course, Port Authority Executive Rick Cotton and Chairman Kevin O'Toole.
53:15And again, thank you to the labor leaders and all the other folks in this room who have supported this project for so many years.
53:22You've heard the praise of my colleagues, Veronica Venterpool, our acting FTA administrator.
53:28We started working together on the MTA board so many years ago, little did I know we would be here today together.
53:34Our FRA administrator, Amit Bose, and Deputy Administrator Jennifer Mitchell, the head of our Build America Bureau, Morteza Farijian.
53:40There's so many others.
53:41I have other DOT colleagues, past and present in the audience.
53:43Thank you all.
53:44This has truly been an incredible team effort.
53:48And I want to make sure, I thank the workers who are going to be building this incredible project with union labor.
53:53This is going to be one of the most complex and important public works in American history, as you've heard.
53:58So thank you to the workers who are going to get the job done, and the contractors and small businesses that are going to support them.
54:04I won't repeat, you all have heard about the significance of this project for the New York,
54:08New Jersey region, for the Northeast Corridor, and the national economy.
54:12And look, for many of us who work and live in this region, this project is personal.
54:16I know probably everyone sitting around here has been through that tunnel hundreds, if not thousands of times, and maybe gotten stuck in it a few times as well.
54:24And like a lot of you, I too, back in the Obama administration, had the heartbreaking experience of watching a previous New Jersey governor cancel the original project.
54:34It was such a frustrating moment.
54:36And by the way, I do want to give a special shout out to Stephen Gardner, who was someone who really kept this project alive and
54:41re-envisioned it, even when the path did not look so certain.
54:44I also want to thank a previous USDOT Secretary,
54:50Ray LaHood, who made a very wise decision to take $400 million of Sandy funds and put them.
55:00It seemed like there was a lot of internal discussion about it, but to ensure that there would be a viable tunnel alignment under the Hudson Yards right over yonder.
55:07He did it even not knowing where the funds for the tunnel were going to come from, but knowing that this was something we needed to do for future generation.
55:14And if you heard, we all watched a previous administration drag their heels on this project,
55:19all the while racking up costs and delaying this important work.
55:24But now, and I think you've heard it from every speaker today, and I will add it as soon as this next helicopter lands.
55:32Now, I have to say, the stars have truly aligned.
55:35With all the extraordinary and committed leaders you see in this audience today, an administration and a president, you've heard a lot of praise about him.
55:43If he really is Amtrak Joe, I'm proud to say we are all in from the top to the bottom.
55:49We're all in on the funding and all the support that's needed to build this project of such national significance.
55:55As you all know, in January 2023, the president was here himself to celebrate a mega grant for the tunnel work at Hudson Yards.
56:01In early November, Secretary Buttigieg was here on this side of the Hudson to break ground on that project.
56:06I had the honor later that month to be on the other side of the Hudson with Governor Murphy, kicking off the Tunnely Avenue Bridge.
56:12Today, we are here for the biggest milestone of all.
56:15Brings a little bit of a tear to my eye.
56:17We've signed the full funding grant agreement that will mean the Biden-Harris administration is delivering over $11 billion for
56:24the Hudson Tunnel and announcing another 4.1 billion in loans.
56:29And that means that this project, after nearly 20 years of talk and plan and hopes and dreams, is becoming a reality.
56:37We are going to build this tunnel, as I swear, by this enormous Earth-moving machine behind me.
56:43And I will again just close saying, this is because of President Biden.
56:51He really has taken this project to his heart with his bipartisan infrastructure law and
56:57his determination that our country can still do big things.
57:00Of course, it also happened, I will be remiss in not saying also Senator Chuck Schumer,
57:05who's never let up on his relentless advocacy for this project.
57:08So today is a great day to savor and celebrate.
57:11On behalf of the United States Department of Transportation, Secretary Buttigieg and
57:15the Biden-Harris administration, I want to again thank all the leaders here today who are going to deliver this project.
57:21We at USDOT will be your partners every step of the way.
57:25We look forward to celebrating many more milestones.
57:28And ultimately, I can picture a beautiful Hudson River Tunnel delivering us all into the Moynihan Train Hall.
57:35And I hope everyone here today will take pride in knowing that you will have a hand in making that vision become reality for generations to come.
57:44I know I will.
57:45Thank you so much.