‘Grand’ plan for Penn Station linked to Trump donor could give glimpse of NYC transit hub’s future after fed takeover
It’s a “grand” Penn plan.
Renderings of a Penn Station revamp proposal linked to a big backer of President Trump — that controversially relocates Madison Square Garden — could give New Yorkers a glimpse of the troubled transit hub’s future.
The Grand Penn Community Alliance, boosted by Trump donor Thomas Klingenstein, wants to restore Penn Station’s original façade, create a grand commuter hall, install a giant park and, most notably, move MSG across Seventh Avenue.
The photo and video mockups of the aptly named Grand Penn proposal don’t show a hint of the blinged-out gold adornments, flashy escalators or giant block letters favored by the Midtown transit hub’s new benefactor: Trump.
His administration suddenly said Thursday that it would be taking over the $7 billion renovation megaproject from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Grand Penn architect Alexandros Washburn told The Post he believes the overall proposal – one of several competing redesign plans for the rail station – fortuitously dovetails with the federal takeover.
“The way it comes out is we get a new train station, we get a new park and we get a new arena for the same cost as the MTA plan,” Washburn said in an interview Friday. “And of course, the reason that the president stepped in is that their plan is lose, lose, lose, because they divided it into two parts, MTA and Amtrak.”
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and federal officials have so far given few details about the shocking announcement, but have said it’ll be a “public-private partnership model” spearheaded by Amtrak, which owns the crumbling, much-hated hub.
Whether the developer-in-chief Trump picks the Grand Penn plan or opts for a completely new option remains to be seen.
Renderings for the project depict a column-lined main entrance on Seventh Avenue that leads into a vast, light-filled commuter hall and what is billed as the “largest train concourse in the world.”
A new tree-lined park, complete with a fountain, would face Moynihan Train Hall on the current site of Madison Square Garden, which the plan calls to move into a new arena on Seventh Avenue, the renderings show.
The Garden has been moved before – the current arena opened in 1968 and is the fourth building to bear that iconic name.
Washburn said moving MSG – which sits atop Penn Station – would greatly simplify the troubles facing prior proposals, although he noted its mercurial owner James Dolan could be a tough sell.
“We said to hell with that, just move MSG and unify the project,” he said. “And if there’s one person on planet Earth that can talk to Jim Dolan, it’s Donald Trump.”
The proposal, if adopted, would first build the new Madison Square Garden in order to avoid interruptions, Washburn said.
“Then you can jump into station work more heavily,” he said. “You finish everything in 11 years for the station work.”
Klingenstein, a hedge fund manager, donated money for the Grand Penn proposal – and hyped it in his recent essay “Only Trump Can Make Penn Station Great Again.”
“The plan is bold, but Trump is a bold leader, and New York is a bold city,” he wrote. “Grand Penn would bring some of Trump’s swagger back to the city.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul, who famously called Penn Station a “hell hole,” sought to break the decades-old curse of New York leaders promising, and failing, to build a new train station.
She backed a plan in 2021 for the MTA to build a 250,000-square-foot Penn Station with a single level and wider entrances on Seventh Avenue for roughly $7 billion.
But the wider plan saw many tweaks over the years, as well as rival proposals, notably one by Italian transportation conglomerate ASTM. The group hired former MTA Chair Pat Foye to pitch a smaller plan that would partially demolish the Hulu Theater owned by Madison Square Garden for a grand new entrance on Eighth Avenue, across from Moynihan Train Hall.
Both ideas had their detractors, however, with MTA honcho Janno Lieber opposing the ASTM plan and mercurial MSG owner Dolan disliking the transit agency’s bid.
The Grand Penn proposal arose not only as an alternative to both plans, but as a conscious effort to restore the glory of the original Penn Station — the 1963 demolition of which the New York Times deemed a “monumental act of vandalism.”
Commuters offered a mixed reception to Trump’s foray into the saga.
Abdoulaye Diallo, a 26-year-old personal trainer at Equinox, was excited about the proposals that showed a grand public plaza.
He was less excited about Trump’s involvement, given the president’s mixed track record as a developer.
“It’s scary just knowing the type of guy Trump is and all the promises he made and never kept up with,” he said. “He always says one thing, presents exactly what people want to hear, and then ends up doing whatever will benefit him.”
“There’s [going to be] a massive Trump sign outside,” he joked.
Leading up to the Trump takeover, Hochul had been engaged in tense face-to-face talks with the president over Penn Station — and recently reportedly joked about renaming it after him to get more federal cash for the project
“In multiple meetings with President Trump, I requested that the federal government fund the long-overdue overhaul of Penn Station. 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,” she said in a statement Thursday.
“This is a major victory for New Yorkers, and the use of federal funds will save New York taxpayers $1.3 billion that would have otherwise been necessary for this project.”
— Additional reporting by Dorian Geiger and Georgett Roberts
