Even after asserting his retirement as head of the MTA on the day the Second Avenue Subway opened in 2017, Tom Prendergast figured he may not be finished with transit megaprojects.
“In the back of my mind, I always knew that if an opportunity availed itself, I was going to take advantage of it,” Prendergast informed THE CITY Wednesday.
Now the previous MTA chief govt — who additionally led New York Metropolis Transit and the Lengthy Island Rail Street throughout greater than 20 years with North America’s largest public-transit authority — has one other mammoth challenge on his plate as the brand new head of the Gateway Program, whose centerpiece is constructing a $16 billion rail tunnel within the Hudson River.
Prendergast was final month appointed chief govt officer of the Gateway Improvement Fee, the bi-state public authority whose tunnel building challenge is on the coronary heart of a community of passenger rail enhancements between New York Penn Station and Newark Penn Station for 200,000 each day New Jersey Transit and Amtrak riders.
After spending the previous couple of years at AECOM, the infrastructure consulting big, the revered transportation veteran now takes an much more daunting problem than opening three new stations deep beneath Second Avenue.
At age 72, he’s taken the highest job at a bi-state public authority, what’s billed as “the most urgent major infrastructure program in the country.”
“To be involved in a signature project that brings that much value is an opportunity I couldn’t pass up,” Prendgast mentioned.
5 Gateway contracts have been awarded to date, together with one on Predergast’s first day for building on the Manhattan aspect of the tunnel.
“It’s a massive public works project and it’s got all of the things you want in a public works project,” mentioned Kate Slevin, govt vp of the Regional Plan Affiliation. “Not only is it good for the economy and job creation, but it’s also good for the environment and the quality of life here.”
It goals to construct two passenger rail tubes inside a single tunnel within the Hudson by 2035 and ultimately rehabilitate the present pair of 115-year-old tubes that had been closely broken by flooding throughout Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
“Two out of three days of service, there is some kind of delay related to the infrastructure,” Prendergast mentioned. “So that infrastructure needs to be upgraded and brought to a state of good repair.”
Former MTA chair Thomas Prendergast is main the Gateway Tunnel challenge, Feb. 19, 2025. Credit score: Jose Martinez/THE CITY
Gateway emerged after then-New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in 2010 scrapped a Hudson River rail tunnel challenge often called Entry to the Area’s Core.
Work has been underway in Hudson Yards for near a decade on the phase of the brand new tunnel that may ultimately join with New York Penn Station. As well as, the underside of the Hudson River is being stabilized for building of a 1,200-foot-long concrete field which is able to permit two large machines to cave out the New Jersey portion of the tunnel.
Whereas a good portion of the challenge will likely be finished largely out of view to the general public, Prendergast mentioned residents on either side of the Hudson have to know of the significance of the work.
“Our job is to effectively communicate in a very transparent way all the work that’s going on so people see what that money is being spent on,” he mentioned.
A $12 billion dedication for federal funding is in place and a number of other contracts have already been awarded for varied elements of The Gateway Program. But, questions stay over whether or not it could possibly be slowed below President Donald Trump, whose first administration created some bureaucratic obstacles.
“We’ve seen in the past that these projects have bipartisan support because they deliver so many benefits for everyday riders and for the regional economy,” Slevin mentioned.
An evaluation final yr by the Gateway Improvement Fee estimated that the challenge will create 95,000 jobs throughout building — 20,000 greater than estimated in a 2017 Environmental Examine — and generate billions of {dollars} in financial exercise.
Among the many preliminary undertakings set to begin within the coming months is building on a bit of the brand new tubes from a bulkhead within the Hudson that may connect with the Hudson Yards concrete casing, all whereas defending current utilities and sewer strains.
The technically advanced challenge additionally requires staying in good graces with the White Home, Congress and the governors of New York and New Jersey — and dealing with a number of states, cities, railroads, property homeowners, enterprise leaders, the general public and rail passengers.
“You need to make sure that working on one goal doesn’t cause problems meeting the others,” Philip Plotch, principal researcher and senior fellow with the Eno Heart for Transportation, informed THE CITY. “It’s like working on a Rubik’s Cube with one hand and juggling flaming torches with the other, while walking on a tightrope surrounded by axe-throwing cannibals.”
Plotch — a former MTA planner whose 2020 ebook “Last Subway: The Long Wait for the Next Train in New York City,” chronicled the decades-long quest to construct the Second Avenue line — mentioned finishing Gateway is essential for your entire Northeast Hall rail line between Washington D.C. and Boston.
“New York lives and dies by its transportation system,” he mentioned. “We’ve built an island with millions of people and millions of jobs because we have great rail service.”
Elected officers from New York and New Jersey praised Prendergast’s appointment final month, whereas former colleagues mentioned he’s the correct man for an unlimited job.
”He’s going to be wonderful at it as a result of he understands it from each side — he is aware of transportation, he is aware of building, he is aware of the railroads, he is aware of the area,” mentioned Carmen Bianco, who Prendergast introduced in as president of New York Metropolis Transit after he was named head of the MTA in 2013.
“He’s a wonderful catch for them and he should bring them a lot of good will.”
Prendergast mentioned the job is the correct match and that the “uniqueness” of delivering a single megaproject, as a substitute of getting to function service whereas constructing round building, is just not misplaced on him.
“There was always the constant battle of like, ‘How do you deliver service and build something?’” Prendergast mentioned. “Because one gets delivered at the expense of the other.
“The uniqueness of this one, is that’s what makes it different and the criticality of the project for the region.”
Associated
