How Not To Derail Gateway

Team Trump just warned New York-area pols: Simply asking for federal funds doesn’t mean you’ll get them — even for vital projects like the Gateway tunnel.

Federal Transit Administration honcho K. Jane Williams last week told Team Cuomo her agency doesn’t recognize the informal Obama-era “framework” that called for the feds to pay half the $12.7 billion bill for a new Hudson River rail tunnel.

“There is no such agreement,” she declared. And it’s “unhelpful” to refer to one.

Hmm: Back to Square One on funding for a tunnel that must be built before the old one collapses, to avoid commuter chaos.

Williams’ views should be no surprise to Democrats like Gov. Cuomo, incoming NJ Gov. Phil Murphy or tunnel cheerleader Sen. Chuck Schumer. After all, this is a new administration — and a Republican one.

New York-area pols’ request for $5 billionplus in grants “lacks recognition of [its] impact” on funding elsewhere, Williams said. They need to address their own “responsibility” to fund “a local project where 9 out of 10 passengers are local transit riders.” Ouch.

Yet that doesn’t mean the tunnel is dead, or even that the feds want out: “We understand . . . how important this project is,” Williams added, “and we remain very much open to paths” to make it happen.

Moreover, the White House is set to unveil its $1 trillion infrastructure plan within weeks, and that might open the door to a whole new tunnel-funding plan.

Meanwhile, it might be wise for Schumer, Cuomo and Murphy to tone down their attacks on President Trump while holding out their hands for federal funds. They’d best also make it clear they’re open to talks (and concessions) to get the project going.

Safeguarding this major commuter-rail passage into Manhattan will serve the region and the nation. Local and DC pols will need to work together to make it happen — whether or not they like each other.