Every year, Chuck commits to traveling to all62 counties in New York to meet with constituents.
On November 5, 2023, after years of advocacy and brokering meetings between Amtrak and the MTA, Senator Schumer announced a massive supercharge of federal funds for the LIRR’s East River Tunnel Project that stands at $1.3 billion dollars. Schumer announced that as part of his writing, negotiating and passing the Bipartisan infrastructure bill in the Senate, the FRA will award the project the $1.3B in funds this upcoming week, and that this money follows more than $430 million he previously secured for the tunnels.
The East River Tunnels are over 110 years old, and they're critical to LIRR, Amtrak, and NJ Transit operations through Penn Station—the busiest train station in North America. The tunnels were badly damaged by salt water corrosion after Hurricane Sandy, and its electrical and structural infrastructure needs to be replaced and updated to keep the tunnels functional for the millions of passengers who will rely on the tunnels through this century. Senator Schumer assured commuters that the work on the East River Tunnels will get done, the entirety of the Sandy damage will be ameliorated, and their commutes will carry on.