MTA To Trump: No, Queens-Midtown Tunnel Tiles Are Not Falling On People

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — President Donald Trump took time Monday to talk smack about two New York City tunnels while pitching his "big" infrastructure spending plan at a gathering of the National Governor's Association in the White House.

Trump singled out the Queens-Midtown and Lincoln tunnels while talking about the poor infrastructure conditions in the United States, and suggested that falling tiles from the tunnel's roofs could be injuring motorists.

"We have tunnels in the New York where the tiles are on the ceiling and you see many tiles missing," Trump said Monday.

"And I say to myself every time I drive through, I say 'I wonder how many people are hurt or injured when they're driving at 40 or 50 miles per hour through a tunnel and a tile falls off, and there are so many missing tiles and such loose concrete," Trump said.

The answer to Trump's question? Nobody.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is currently doing repairs on the Queens-Midtown tunnel due to the extensive damage it suffered during Hurricane Sandy. In 2015 the MTA launched a $236.5 Million project to work on the tunnel during nights and weekends.

"Not a single person has been injured by any falling tiles because no tiles are falling – they are being replaced by workers as part of an infrastructure project to repair the tunnel from Hurricane Sandy damage," MTA spokeswoman Beth DeFalco told Patch in a statement.

The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey also clapped back at President Trump in a statement which asserted the Lincoln Tunnel's tubes are "regularly inspected and pose no danger to the public."

Check out Trump's remarks at the National Governor's Association below. He starts talking about infrastructure at the 20:45 mark.

Photo by MTA via Flickr/Creative Commons