Only Trump Can Make Penn Station Great Again
Once upon a time, New York City had a train station worthy of the greatest city in America. Built in 1910, the original Penn Station was huge, confident and bold. Built in a classical style, it was a tribute to the greatness of America. Its sheer size, like, say, that of the Grand Canyon, made it sublime: inspiring and at the same time humbling. It was home to the gods, closer to heaven than even New York’s tallest skyscrapers. As it respected itself, it asked you to respect yourself. That was then.
Sadly, in 1964 it was torn down and thrown into the swamps of the Meadowlands in what was perhaps the greatest act of architectural vandalism in American history. It was replaced by the current underground Penn Station, which is a disgrace — much-hated by the public, dangerous, inefficient, fit only for rats, as one critic put it. Walking through its low, cramped passageways, you must elbow your way through a thicket of strangers.
Governor Hochul has come up with a plan that she says would fix Penn Station. The plan, however, is mediocre, uninspired; frankly, it is depressing. New York City deserves much better
Three years ago, I was approached by the National Civic Art Society, an organization committed to recovering classical architecture, which proposed to do much better. They were seeking funds for developing a plan to reconstruct all or part of the original Penn Station. I thought, “how wonderful.” At the same time I thought, “how unrealistic.”
Even so, I was intrigued enough to hire two consultants to assess the prospects of such a project. They were even more pessimistic than I was. Both said it was well-nigh impossible. First, you would have to move and rebuild Madison Square Garden. In the unlikely event you could make this practicable, you would then have to convince real estate owners, railroads and a long list of city, state, and federal government agencies, each with its own agenda.
I knew it was daunting, but in a moment of grandiosity I went ahead anyway. I put together a veteran team of transportation experts to develop a plan. The project is complex, and the planning process was a major undertaking. It has taken 3 years to complete. It has cost $3 million. Why would I spend so much on a pipe dream? I thought I owed it to my city and to my country. The sublime is sometimes worth almost any financial risk. And who else would be willing, or silly enough, to take such a risk?
The team came up with a stunning plan. To understand it, it is best to see it in pictures at grandpenn.org. At that site there is also a video walk-through.
The plan calls for building an up-to-date Madison Square Garden just east of 7th Avenue, directly across from the current Garden. This frees up space for a park, the size of Bryant Park, in an area of the city that has none.
The removal of the Garden also frees up space for an above ground towering train hall, larger than Grand Central Station, modeled after the original Penn Station. The train hall would include restaurants and shops.
Directly below the train hall would be boarding platforms, spread across 604,000 square feet. The ceilings would be 10 feet higher than those in the current Penn station. From the train platform, there would be an underground walkway to the new Amtrak station in the Farley post office building.
We call this project “Grand Penn.” Grand Penn, located in one of the few underdeveloped parts of the city, would bring with it signifigant economic growth.
Grand Penn would cost about $7.5 billion — expensive, but no more expensive than the current Hochul plan, which does not involve rebuilding Madison Square Garden. Hochul’s plan is so expensive precisely because it requires working around the current Madison Square Garden.
That we now have an impressive plan improves our prospects. Even so, the project is a long shot. But we got lucky. President Trump entered the scene. Long shots are his specialty. For example, after repeated failures by the city, he renovated Wollman Rink in Central Park and did so under budget and ahead of schedule. And what could be more of a long shot than his twice winning the presidency?
Although we have no reason to think he has seen our plan— he is pretty busy these days— we do have reason to think he would like it. We know he wants to fix Penn Station. We know as well that, like the average American, he prefers classical over modern architecture, most of which he thinks is ugly. Trump also believes that the people, not just the architectural elite, should have a say in the style of federal buildings. These preferences are reflected in one of his recent executive orders.
The real estate and government parties that have to be convinced to go along are willing to entertain our plan but, of course, we need more; we need their support. And for that, we need the country’s greatest deal maker. Trump once said to me, in his trademark modesty, “I am not just competent. I’m really, really competent.” To get Grand Penn done will require someone who is respected, talented, and “really, really competent.” It will also require someone with access to federal funds. That someone can only be Trump.
The plan is bold, but Trump is a bold leader, and New York is a bold city. Grand Penn would bring some of Trump’s swagger back to the city.
Even so, Trump cannot do it alone. Grand Penn requires a close partnership with the city. Today there is something of a rift between Trump and the city. What better way to heal that rift than a collaboration on Grand Penn, a project worthy of both New York and Trump?
All New Yorkers — indeed, all Americans, whatever their feelings about Trump — should stand with him on Grand Penn. Would it not be satisfying to be able to tell your grandchildren that you were there when a larger-than-life developer, against very long odds, built one of New York’s greatest real estate projects?