The big story yesterday was that even though a judge ruled last week that the Trump administration can't withhold funding from the Gateway Tunnel project, the project remains stalled.
Judge Jeannette Vargas of Federal District Court in Manhattan had ordered the Trump administration to end a four-month suspension of funding, but as the Daily News, The New York Times, Gothamist and amNY reported yesterday, Vargas stayed her own ruling until Thursday to give the piqued president a chance to appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
So until then, 1,000 workers are off the job. And the most important infrastructure project in the country is on hold. Sen. Chuck Schumer and New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill rallied with workers yesterday.
We broke down what the entire issue is about — Trump's vanity — last week. Refresh your memory here.
In other news:
- If you haven't seen it yet, stop everything and read Sophia Lebowitz's powerful coverage of Big Tech's effort to use the Big Game to normalize worker exploitation and reducing compensation to crash victims. (Streetsblog)
- It was a bad morning for Penn Station customers. (Gothamist)
- The death toll from the cold stretch is now 18 (NYDN). The Times spent a night on the streets to describe what it's like. And Gothamist previewed today's Council hearing on the subject.
- The FAQ podcast put it succinctly: We need a Vision Zero approach to homelessness. We share the sentiment, but it's not like the de Blasio-era initiative has gotten anywhere near zero traffic fatalities.
- Mayor Mamdani is taking an odd approach as he heads to Albany on Wednesday with his tin cup out. (NY Focus)
- Truck driver Joe Macken’s intricate model of New York will be on display at the Museum of the City of New York starting on Wednesday. (NY Post)
- We're a bit surprised that state Sen. Mike Gianaris (D-Astoria) won't seek re-election. He's popular and definitely solid on street safety issues — and could probably defeat a challenger from the left flank, even in the "Commie Corridor." But he's been in public office since 2000, so maybe he's just done? (City & State)
- Summonses are finally on the rise for homeowners who didn't properly shovel. (WPIX11)
- The New York Post seems to have forgotten that there was a mayor in between de Blasio and Mamdani ...
- And that mayor was just fined $4,000 by the Conflicts of Interest Board for a silly stunt with whistles. (NY Times)
- More details emerge about the killing of a 1-year-old by a driver in a Queens garage. (QNS)
- Another downtown bike shop legend has died: Pat from New Bo Bo Bicycles in Chinatown succumbed to cancer. (Instagram)
- Learn how Tokyo and London are handling their Waymo testing. (Vital City)
- Finally, here's some nifty footage of our frozen Hudson:
Two weeks of bitter cold. The Hudson River is a moving maze of huge ice floes today as NYC shivers on pic.twitter.com/2oAgcWETYr
— Steven Bognar (@Bogs4NY) February 9, 2026






