Trump administration wants to rename Penn Station, maybe after Trump himself

The prospect of Long Island commuters some day riding the train into "Trump Station" has become more likely, as the president’s administration has made clear its intention to rename Penn Station as part of its ongoing redevelopment of the Manhattan transit hub.

In a letter to congressional leaders Wednesday, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy outlined various transportation "priorities" held by the Trump administration, including for the ongoing $8 billion redevelopment of Penn Station being led by Amtrak, a quasi-federal organization.

Among those priorities, Duffy wrote, is to "direct Amtrak to rename New York Penn Station." U.S. Department of Transportation officials declined to provide more details of its intentions to rename Penn Station.

Duffy did not specify a new moniker for the 116-year-old rail station, but has previously said that Trump Station "has a nice ring to it." Trump has denied being behind the plan to rename the station after him, but has questioned why it’s named after another state.

Penn Station is named after its original builder and owner, the Pennsylvania Railroad, which later became the Penn Central Transportation Company. Other Penn Stations remain in operation, including in Newark and Baltimore.

Amtrak officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Duffy’s directive, and have, so far, remained hush on the prospect of naming Penn after Trump. In renderings of a reimagined Penn Station recently released by Amtrak, a logo bearing the Presidential Seal and Trump’s name appears etched on a station wall.

The redevelopment of Penn Station aims to open up new space and let natural light into the cramped and dingy facility. The effort was originally led by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and New York State, but was taken over by the Trump administration last year.

Although Gov. Kathy Hochul has said she’d be against any effort to rename the adjacent Moynihan Train Hall, named after her one of her political mentors, Sen. Daniel P. Moynihan, she’s offered little pushback against renaming Penn Station after Trump, as long as state tax dollars aren’t used to fund the redevelopment project.

"Penn Station needs to be rebuilt for the millions of commuters who use it, not rebranded to satisfy Trump’s bottomless ego," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement Thursday. "Secretary Duffy should stop scheming to flatter the president and start delivering the safe, modern station New Yorkers deserve."

The Trump administration has overseen other rebranding efforts of institutions, including the Donald J. Trump U.S. Institute of Peace, the former Palm Beach International Airport in Florida — now President Donald J. Trump International Airport — and the short-lived Trump Kennedy Center.

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.