Trump Takes Control of Penn Station Overhaul in NYC

Last week's announcement from Trump-appointed DOT Secretary Sean P. Duffy justifies the federal takeover of the state-run Penn Station Reconstruction project because Amtrak owns the station, and therefore “there is no reason to delegate leadership of this important project.” The announcement also indicates that the DOT will be slashing $120 million from the Amtrak's federal grant for project development. Instead it will be “championing a public-private partnership model for Penn Station, harnessing private sector innovation and capital to minimize financial risk to taxpayers,” with the goal of creating “a safe, modern, and efficient transit hub for the nation’s financial capital.”

Curiously, even though Amtrak owns Penn Station, they are not the majority user. Around 10 million Amtrak passengers move through the station annually, many of them served by Moynihan Station, which opened in 2021 one block west of Penn Station. Amtrak's annual ridership is topped by the approximately 27 million New Jersey Transit riders, 32 million New York City Subway riders, and 70 million Long Island Railroad passengers that come through the station every year. All told, around half a million people crowd into Penn Station every day, and this volume is one reason politicians, passengers, and the general public have long called for improvements to the cramped, maze-like complex that sits beneath Madison Square Garden (MSG). 

What Penn Station could become with the Trump administration in control can be grasped in a proposal the nonprofit Grand Penn Community Alliance unveiled last month, whose renderings are shown here. Aligned with Trump's on-again, off-again, on-again wish of “Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture,” the Grand Penn proposal would demolish MSG and most of the existing station above grade, replace it with a public park, and build a new neo-traditional entrance reminiscent of the original Penn Station demolished in the 1960s. Their proposal is predicated on building a new arena for MSG on partially cleared land east of the station.

Although Grand Penn is not the only alternative proposal to the MTA's surgical approach to renovating Penn Station—PAU led a 2023 redesign that would have kept MSG in place—it is the one with the strongest ties to Donald Trump and is therefore the most likely to advance. Though designed by Alexandros Washburn, the proposal is being pushed by the National Civic Art Society, the DC nonprofit led by Justin Shubow, who chaired the US Commission of Fine Arts during Trump's first term and is widely known as the driving force behind Trump's executive order to beautify federal architecture. Additionally, the National Civic Art Society is backed by New York-based hedge fund manager Thomas Klingenstein, who donated more than $10 million to Trump and other Republicans during the 2024 elections.

In response to the US DOT announcement last week, New York Governor Kathy Hochul said this:

“In multiple meetings with President Trump, I requested that the federal government fund the long-overdue overhaul of Penn Station. 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. This is a major victory for New Yorkers, and the use of federal funds will save New York taxpayers $1.3 billion dollars that would have otherwise been necessary for this project.”