Trump Administration Yanks Control of Penn Station Revival From MTA and Hochul
By Mark Hallum April 17, 2025 4:29 pm
reprints
The U.S. Department of Transportation is cutting New York State out of the plan to redevelop Pennsylvania Station.
Under the premise that it would execute the long-deferred overhaul of the nation’s largest transit hub with greater efficiency, the Trump administration’s secretary of transportation, Sean Duffy, announced late Thursday the department was withdrawing the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) from leading the reconstruction effort of Penn Station, claiming cost overruns, and replacing the agency with Amtrak as the project lead.
Duffy said the federal takeover could save taxpayers $120 million on the rebuild, once estimated at about $7.5 billion.
“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. The MTA’s history of inefficiency, waste and mismanagement also meant that a new approach is needed. By putting taxpayers first, we’re ensuring every dollar is spent wisely to create a transit hub all Americans can take pride in.”
While Duffy’s statement was critical, Gov. Kathy Hochul and the MTA issued statement indicating that the federal takeover was a positive development.
“In multiple meetings with President Trump, I requested that the federal government fund the long-overdue overhaul of Penn Station,” Hochul said in a statement. “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.”
It’s a major change in tone considering that Hochul’s administration already has multiple fronts open in regard to the federal crusade against congestion pricing and its attempted shutdown of the the Empire Wind 1 project, a wind farm planned off the coast of Long Island near Long Beach.
“Governor Kathy Hochul has prioritized the reconstruction of Penn Station for years, and we’re glad the federal government is focusing on it now,” MTA chairman Janno Lieber said in a statement. “The MTA’s 33rd Street Concourse project was the first major improvement to Penn Station in decades – and we finished it on time and under budget. Over a hundred million MTA customers – two-thirds of Penn Station’s total ridership – use the facility every year. As the major leaseholder in the station, we expect to participate in the administration’s and Amtrak’s efforts to ensure future plans meet the needs of everyone who uses it.”
Since former Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that Penn Station would be rebuilt and expanded as the Empire Station complex at the end of 2019, the plan has had many iterations. One version included a tax abatement deal with Vornado Realty Trust that allowed the real estate investment trust to build office towers in the Penn District in return for partially funding the project.
But as interest rates and poor performance in the office leasing market due to COVID-19 dragged on, Hochul eventually gave up on the public-private partnership as well as federal funding in early 2022 and opted for minor changes to the aesthetics of the transit hub, such as removing bulky beams and adding new entrances.
Then there came the question of how to even renovate the station, with Madison Square Garden parked over the top of it and New York City Council renewing the venue’s special permit for another five years in 2023.
Since then, the state has been relatively quiet when it comes to anything ambitious relating to Penn Station.
Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.
