The Trump administration plans to put up $8 billion to rebuild Penn Station, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced during a Senate hearing Tuesday.
The announcement marked the first time the feds have indicated how much they’ll spend to reconstruct the dilapidated train hub since the president took control of the project from the MTA last year and turned the work over to Amtrak, which owns the station.
“When it comes to our rail, we’re making generational improvements to the Northeast Corridor,” Duffy said during his opening testimony at the hearing, which was under oath. “That means … a transformative investment in New York’s Penn Station — $8 billion, by the way.”
Later in the hearing, Duffy repeated the number during a tense exchange with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who was criticizing the Trump administration for trying to withhold transportation funding from New York.
“We’re going to give $8 billion to rebuild Penn Station. Is that a joke?” Duffy quipped.
The day after the hearing, Amtrak officials announced a group called Penn Transformation Partners as the “master developer” for Penn Station. The group plans to build a new, light-filled entrance on Eighth Avenue, keep Madison Square Garden in place and redesign the arena’s exterior with a “classical look.” It’s unclear how much the project will cost.
While under oath at a Senate hearing on Tuesday, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he plans to allocate $8 billion towards rebuilding Penn Station.
The winning group is led by Halmar, a construction company that’s also working on the MTA’s Second Avenue subway extension.
The feds didn’t say how they intend to allocate $8 billion for the station’s rebuild. Many large transportation construction projects, like the Second Avenue subway extension into East Harlem, receive federal grants. The Build America Bureau — established under former President Barack Obama in 2016 — is also used by the federal government to give out loans for transportation infrastructure projects to “state, local and private project sponsors.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul has said New York state won’t put any additional money into the reconstruction effort.
The losing bidders include the Grand Penn Partners, which was backed by the wealthy Trump donor Thomas Klingenstein. The group called to move Madison Square Garden across Seventh Avenue.
The other losing bidder was Penn Forward Now, backed by a Canadian investment firm and remains a mystery: The group’s proposal was never shared with the public before the bidding process.
Andy Byford, former head of New York City transit, lead the bidding process as a special advisor for Amtrak, though sources with knowledge of the talks have told Gothamist they understand President Donald Trump had the final say on the winner.
This story was updated after Amtrak announced the winning "master developer" for Penn Station.
