It’s a “grand” Penn plan.
Renderings of a Penn Station revamp proposal linked to an enormous backer of President Trump — that controversially relocates Madison Sq. Backyard — might give New Yorkers a glimpse of the troubled transit hub’s future.
The Grand Penn Group Alliance, boosted by Trump donor Thomas Klingenstein, desires to revive Penn Station’s unique façade, create a grand commuter corridor, set up a large park and, most notably, transfer MSG throughout Seventh Avenue.
The plan is one in all competing Penn Station redesign proposals already on the desk for the US Division of Transportation to take a look at now that the Trump administration has taken over the megaproject.
However whether or not the developer-in-chief Trump picks the Grand Penn plan or opts for a very new choice stays to be seen after Thursday’s surprising announcement that the feds will boot the Metropolitan Transportation Authority from the long-promised revamp.
The one particulars supplied by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and federal officers thus far is that the mission can be “public-private partnership mannequin” spearheaded by Amtrak, which owns the crumbling, much-hated Midtown transit hub.
Klingenstein donated cash for the aptly named Grand Penn proposal – and hyped it in his current essay “Solely Trump Can Make Penn Station Nice Once more.”
“The plan is daring, however Trump is a daring chief, and New York is a daring metropolis,” he wrote. “Grand Penn would deliver a few of Trump’s swagger again to town.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul, who famously referred to as Penn Station a “hell gap,” sought to interrupt the decades-old curse of New York leaders promising, and failing, to construct a brand new prepare station.
She backed a plan in 2021 for the MTA to construct a 250,000-square-foot Penn Station with a single degree and wider entrances on Seventh Avenue for roughly $7 billion. However the wider plan noticed many tweaks through the years, in addition to rival proposals, notably one by Italian transportation conglomerate ASTM.
The group employed former MTA Chair Pat Foye to pitch a smaller plan that may partially demolish the Hulu Theater owned by Madison Sq. Backyard for a grand new entrance on Eighth Avenue, throughout from Moynihan Practice Corridor.
Each plans their detractors, nonetheless, with present MTA honcho Janno Lieber opposing the ASTM plan and mercurial MSG proprietor James Dolan disliking the transit company’s proposal.
The Grand Penn proposal arose not solely as an alternative choice to each plans, however as a acutely aware effort to revive the glory of the unique Penn Station — the 1963 demolition of which the New York Instances deemed a “monumental act of vandalism.”
Commuters supplied a combined reception to Trump’s foray into the Penn Station saga.
Abdoulaye Diallo, a 26-year-old private coach at Equinox, was excited concerning the proposals that confirmed a grand public plaza.
He was much less enthusiastic about Trump’s involvement, given the president’s combined observe report as a developer.
“It’s scary simply understanding the kind of man Trump is and all the guarantees he made and by no means stored up with,” he mentioned. “He all the time says one factor, presents precisely what individuals need to hear, after which finally ends up doing no matter will profit him.”
“There’s [going to be] a large Trump signal exterior,” he joked.
— Extra reporting by Dorian Geiger
Supply hyperlink
