Hi, my name is Brian Fritsch, and I manage the Build Gateway Now coalition and serve as Communications Director for Regional Plan Association. Our coalition comprises over 45 civic, labor, business, and elected groups united to support the nation’s most urgent infrastructure project.

Thank you to the Gateway Development Commission for inviting public comment today. We are convening at yet another exciting moment for the advancement of the Hudson Tunnel Project. In a matter of weeks, construction is going to start on early works projects on both sides of the river: Tonnelle Avenue in New Jersey and Hudson Yards Concrete Casing in New York. Project partners are moving forward with the steps to make this possible, including today’s board meeting. Thank you to the GDC and all involved in getting us to this point.

Moving from planning to reality signifies a number of things. For one, it means the project is becoming real. With shovels in the ground, we get closer to the point where we will feel secure about the project is happening beyond the whims of political winds. Secondly, construction means more jobs for our region’s workers, bringing the promise of tens of thousands of jobs to life, and providing a boost for our region’s economy.

Relatedly, at RPA we have been working on researching the economic interconnectedness between New York City and the surrounding suburban regions. This economic link formed by commuters who live in a subregion but work in New York City, or vice versa, and the wages that they bring back to their communities is strongest between New York and New Jersey. We’ll be releasing this research as a short report in the next few weeks, but I can tell you now that the numbers are big, and despite an increase in remote work, the flow of money and workers between New York and New Jersey is abundant.

This is precisely why we need state-of-the-art transportation to keep this regional interconnectedness alive and well. We cannot allow for poor transportation to be the reason that the flow of people and capital slows. It is in the best interest of New York, New Jersey and the entire tri-state region to make getting around sustainable, reliable and accessible. The Hudson Tunnel Project is the centerpiece of that goal.

But it doesn’t stop there. We need to see through the completion of the entire Gateway Program, all 11 projects of both phases of the project, to double capacity under the Hudson. This will require immense coordination between the many project partners and many other private and public entities. Our coalition is committed to this goal, and we look forward to continuing to work with our partners at GDC. Thank you.