Posted on 04/18/2025 4:32:25 AM PDT by Libloather
Next stop: Trump Station
President Trump fired the MTA from the long-awaited revamp of Penn Station on Thursday, instead putting the feds in charge of a gold-plated makeover for the decrepit transit hub.
Amtrak will spearhead the renovation as the feds champion a “public-private partnership model,” announced Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
“President Trump has made it clear: the days of reckless spending and blank checks are over,” Duffy said in a statement.
“New York City deserves a Penn Station that reflects America’s greatness and is safe and clean.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul had been engaged in tense face-to-face talks with Trump over Penn Station — and recently reportedly joked about renaming it after him to get more federal cash for the project.
Making Penn Station great again has been a years-long dream – and nightmare – for New York leaders.
The feds’ surprise move puts two long-gestating, parallel Penn Station projects – one to reconstruct the crumbling building and another to expand it rail capacity — under the same umbrella.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Thye mention of MTA brought back thoughts of an old Kingston Trio song from years past.
I’m 66, they’ve been revamping Penn for all of my life. The first revamp in the early sixties did away with one hell of a striking erector set concoction that has been lamented by many over the years.
one more- elect Elise Stefanick Governor
it’ll be done in no time at all and then hochul and NYChitty will have to thank President Trump- that’s the best part!!!
so is Penn Station and the whole of NYChitty
except the last recommendation should be the first one....
In a year you’ll have $180,000,000.
No one knows how to revamp buildings in NYC better than Trump.
This is about rooting out money laundering and the elaborate waste, stalling and corruption. He knows what he’s looking at here and how to present it to the governor to turn it around and actually fix this horrible place.
Inner city New Yorkers vote for dems to run this metro, they hated Giuliani with his rules and regulations that cleaned up the city, making it a safe place.
Long Islanders put up with the horrendous penn station while watching dem governor after another sit on their tax money. They do vote for Trump more than any blue Texas city, so we’ll see
I don’t favor fed taxes going into it but there is an Amtrak station and a train that serves the Jersey Shore
I’m confused. Didn’t the new Moynihan Station (previously the post office) across 7th Avenue replace Penn Station?
How was the MTA even in charge? The station is owned by Amtrak and the MTA is just a tenant (the Long Island Rail Road).
No. That’s merely a passenger concourse for Amtrak, and a vanity project.
Penn Station is a perfect example of this, and it's one of the most complex arrangements you'll find anywhere. You have a train station owned by Amtrak (federal government) that serves Amtrak trains as well as three different rail transit systems operated by agencies in two states -- New Jersey Transit, the Long Island Railroad, and the NYC subway system (the last two are different operating arms of the MTA). On top of all this you have privately-owned buildings (including Madison Square Garden) that are subject to ground leases with different public agencies. The whole area has "air rights" contracts under NYC zoning regulations that dictate what can and cannot be built there.
And on top of all this, the new west concourse of Penn Station is located in what had previously been the Farley Post Office Building on the west side of 8th Avenue -- across the street from Madison Square Garden.
I would be happy if they would just post proper signage to get from New Jersey Transit to the Long Island Rail Road and back for when I have to use JFK airport. I do that infrequently and the signage is horrible. It takes a bit of wandering around to find the way, and where to buy a ticket for the next train.
I should have to pay for my next truck and New Yorkers should have to pay for their next train station.
Amtrak huh. That should end well.
Wasn’t it a stand-alone guv’mt outfit like the MTA that designed and built that asinine TwinTowers? You know, a design like a cheap beer can where all the structural elements are on the perimeter — where they are vulnerable.
That's a win.
I understand why the MTA was/is involved, yet their involvement should not have put them in charge of the project.
While the original Penn Station may have been just a train station serving the now gone Pennsylvania Railroad, the current Penn Station is an infrastructure that serves Amtrak train lines, train lines of the New Jersey Transit system, train lines of the Long Island Railroad, and access to multiple subway lines transiting under 7th Avenue and 8th Avenue. It is more than a single “train station”. It is a major transit hub serving four government transportation enterprises, each with its own governance and stake holders.
Anyone trying to satisfy the competing legitimate interests has a herculean task. However, the Trump administration decision is the right one, as Amtrak owns Penn Station, not the MTA, not the Long Island Railroad, not New Jersey Transit. Yes, Amtrak needs to address their concerns and interests, but need not surrender its authority.
More than just putting Amtrak in charge, they need to declare, or make by law, that all of Penn Station is federal property, and then cut off NY, NYC red tape and reduce the federal red tape to make decisions and get the project done.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.