MTA and Amtrak fight over future of Penn Station
Gov. Kathy Hochul is seeking to lower the temperature in a dispute between the MTA and Amtrak over the federal government’s push to rebuild Penn Station.
Amtrak senior adviser Andy Byford, who is leading the project, wrote a letter to MTA Chair Janno Lieber on Monday inviting the agency to formally join as a partner. Lieber responded with a sharply worded letter raising questions about Amtrak’s process, and whether President Donald Trump would actually follow through with the development.
Lieber described Amtrak’s planning process as “bizarre,” wrote it had “the appearance of impropriety” and declined to sign an agreement to officially partner on the project. Penn Station is owned by the national railroad, and the MTA leases a portion of the facility.
Late Tuesday, Hochul spokesperson Sean Butler struck a notably different tone. He said in a statement that Amtrak and the MTA, which Hochul controls, should work together.
"Governor Hochul believes that delivering the world-class Penn Station New Yorkers deserve is too important to not work collaboratively and constructively with all partners. Her leadership secured the full federal commitment to fund and deliver improvements to an asset Amtrak has owned for decades,” Butler wrote. “She has also been clear that this project must benefit all riders, including hundreds of thousands of subway and LIRR customers, while also being conducted transparently."
The governor’s office declined to say whether Hochul signed off on Lieber’s letter before he sent it to Amtrak. During a news conference Wednesday, Lieber also declined to respond to a question about whether Hochul signed off on his letter.
