President Trump fired the MTA from the long-awaited revamp of Penn Station on Thursday, instead putting the feds in charge of a gold-plated makeover for the decrepit transit hub.
Amtrak will spearhead the revamp as the feds champion a “public-private partnership model,” announced Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
“President Trump has made it clear: the days of reckless spending and blank checks are over,” Duffy said in a statement.
“New York City deserves a Penn Station that reflects America’s greatness and is safe and clean.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul had been engaged in tense face-to-face talks with Trump over Penn Station — and recently reportedly joked about renaming it after him to get more federal cash for the project.
Making Penn Station great again has been a years-long dream – and nightmare – for New York leaders.
The feds’ surprise move puts two long-gestating, parallel Penn Station projects – one to reconstruct the crumbling building and another to expand it rail capacity — under the same umbrella.