Penn Station 'transformation' would start in 2027 under new Trump administration timeline

Penn Station’s future will include a single "open, airy, bright" level but won’t have added tracks in the foreseeable future, Trump administration officials said Wednesday, adding that they're open to possibly relocating Madison Square Garden.

The new details for a reimagined Penn Station emerged as U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy visited the station Wednesday to announce what he called an "aggressive" schedule for the redevelopment effort, which is set to commence construction by the end of 2027.

"We are going to move at the speed of Trump. This is not going to be a 20, 30-year project. It’s not your grandkids that are going to enjoy the work we are doing now. You are all going to enjoy this great project," said Duffy, who decried Penn Station — the Long Island Rail Road’s primary terminal — as "bleak," "dirty," "crumbling" and "unacceptable."

In contrast, the reimagined Penn Station will "ooze excellence," said Amtrak Special Advisor Andy Byford, a former Metropolitan Transportation Authority subway chief who has been tapped to head the project.

"We can’t wait any longer to transform this station for the better," Byford said.

Locked in a feud with Gov. Kathy Hochul and the MTA over congestion pricing, in April President Donald Trump's administration took control of the Penn Station reconstruction effort from the state, and handed it to Amtrak to run.

Hochul had estimated that rebuilding Penn Station would cost about $7 billion, but Byford said Wednesday that the cost of the project, and who would pay for it, would depend on which proposal is ultimately selected. The U.S. Department of Transportation on Wednesday announced a $43 million federal grant for Amtrak to jump-start the work.

In a statement, Hochul pointed out that the Trump takeover of the project freed up $1 billion for the state to spend on MTA projects. With the federal government’s advancement of the project, "New Yorkers are one step closer to a station worthy of this great city," Hochul said.

Amtrak will immediately start seeking out a "master developer" for Penn, plans to award a contract by May, begin preliminary design work and an environmental study next summer, and break ground on the project by the end of 2027, project officials said.

Several developers, architectural firms and transit advocacy organizations have already come forward with competing visions for a reimagined Penn Station, many of them including taller ceilings, natural light coming in through glass atriums, and grand new entrances to the station.

Without signaling a preference for any specific proposal, Byford said he expected a winning design would include a single level, rather than the current bi-level layout with Amtrak and NJ Transit on the upper floor and the LIRR on the lower one. Byford also would not rule out selecting a proposal that would require relocating Madison Square Garden, which sits atop Penn, "even if it was a proposal that took a bit longer" to execute. MSG officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Wednesday.

Alex Washburn, executive director of the Grand Penn Community Alliance, which has advanced a proposal that would move MSG across the street on Seventh Avenue so that Penn could be restored to an aboveground facility similar to its original early 20th century design, said the Trump administration’s approach to the project is "super encouraging."

"I got a sense of a high level of quality being established today," Washburn said. "To open a door now to a competition to achieve that is fantastic."

Although the redevelopment project does not aim to address track-level issues, Byford said that a related plan, initially advanced by former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, to expand Penn’s operational capacity by acquiring the block south of the station and building new tracks under it is "absolutely on hold" as project officials prioritize using the existing tracks "more efficiently."

Asked if the reimagined station would be renamed, Duffy said "Trump Station" has "a nice ring to it."

Duffy also on Wednesday weighed in for the first time on the looming threat of LIRR union workers going on strike as soon as Sept. 18, unless the White House intervenes to force further federal mediation.

"The President likes when things run smoothly. He doesn’t want things to shut down," said Duffy.

"And so I’ll just say: stay tuned for how the president will engage," Duffy added.

By Alfonso A. Castillo

alfonso.castillo@newsday.com@alfonsoreports

Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.