Trump seeks NYC Penn Station makeover
He wants to take control of project from MTA
By: Colleen Wilson
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
..... The Trump administration has announced that it is seeking to hand over the reconstruction planning of New York Penn Station to Amtrak and take it away from the Metropolitan transportation Authority, which has been leading the effort for the last few years.
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"The Trump administrator determined that USDOT and Amtrak can together deliver a world-class Penn Station," the Transportation Department said Thursday 04/17/2025] in a statement.
..... "Since Amtrak owns the station, which is an essential asset serving over 10 million Amtrak riders anally there is no reason to delegate leadership of this important project,: the statement said.
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By a wide margin, rider of NJ Transit and of the Long Island Rail Road - which is owned and perpetrated by the MTA - use Penn Station more than riders on Amtrak do.
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"As one of the largest suers of the station, NJ Transit looks forward to working with USDOT and Amtrak on the Penn Station Reconstruction project," said Kris Kolluri, NJ Transit's president and CEO.
..... Amtrak declined to comment and referred questions to the Transportation Department.
..... New York Governor Kathy Hochul framed the move as a financial win for the state. "In multiple meetings with President Trump, I requested that the federal government fund the long-overdue overhaul of Penn station," she said. "Clearly that effort has been successful, and I want to thank the president and Secretary Duffy for taking on the sole responsibility to deliver the beautiful new $7 billion station that New Yorkers deserve.
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"This is a major victory for New Yorkers, and the use of federal funds will save New York taxpayers $1.3 billion that would have otherwise been necessary for this project,' she said.
..... MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said Hochul "has prioritized the reconstruction of Penn Station for years, and we're glad the federal government is focusing on it now."
..... "Over a hundred million MTA customers, two-thirds of Penn Station;s total ridership use the facility every year," Lieber said. "As the major leaseholder in the station, we expect participate in the administration's and Amtrak's efforts to ensure future plans meet the needs of everyone who uses it."
..... In addition, the Federal Railroad Administration is "rescoping and slashing" a federal grant for the project that "will save taxpayers 4120 million," the DOT release said.
..... It's unclear how that money will be saved, since the MTA was awarded a $72 million federal grant in November [2024] to help renovate the station. A spokesperson at the Transportation Department did not immediately provide an answer to that question.
..... "Amtrak can pursue a master developer to examine both reconstruction and potential expansion of the station," the release said. Amtrak has been separately studying ides for how to expand New York Penn Station.
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"The Trump Administration is also championing a public-private partnership model for Penn Station, harnessing private sector innovation and capital to minimize financial risk to taxpayers," the press release said.
Public-private partnerships have been controversial
..... Figuring out ways to use public-private partnerships to fund renovations and a potential expansion of Penn Station has been met with controversy in recent years.
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In 2023. Vornado Trust Realty, which owns most of the land around Penn Station, paused a plan that would have used a public-private partnership model to help renovate the station and build some new entrances and vertical circulation.
..... The plan was criticized, in part because there were concerns about whether too much emphasis was being put on the commercial and retail planning and not enough on the needed improvements to the station, which has been grimy, over capacity and in need of improved pedestrian circulation for decades.
..... When Penn Station was rebuilt in the 1960s, business interest overshadowed the train station's needs, with Madison Square Garden and office tower built over the station, requiring more than 200 columns that go down to the track level and impede the ability to expand the undersized platforms.
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Public-private partnerships have been successful with other transit projects, including the 7 train subway extension, which was largely funded with bonds backed by payment-in-lieu-of-taxes revenue from real estate interests in the land around the new subway station.
..... The Port authority of New York and New Jersey is suing a similar arrangement to help pay for the more than $10 billion reconstruction of the Port Authority Bus Terminal.