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Two years ago, Governor Kathy Hochul promised to fast-track the redesign of Penn Station (which she once called a “hellhole”). Yet, despite that promise, little progress has been made—until now. A new proposal is making the rounds, mainly because of its bold and ambitious plan: relocating Madison Square Garden across the street from its current perch atop Penn Station and replacing it with a larger, more modern transit hub.
Alexandros Washburn, the project lead for the Grand Penn Community Alliance—the interest group behind the proposal—discussed the plan with The New York Times, noting that the new train hall "could double the station’s capacity to 48 trains per hour, provide a suite of new safety and accessibility features, and address riders’ biggest complaints about the cramped station."
Beyond its transportation upgrades, the redeveloped destination would also feature a green space the size of Bryant Park.
As for the redesigned arena, it would occupy the site of the former Hotel Pennsylvania, which was demolished in 2023.
Exciting as the proposal sounds—especially given Penn Station’s long history of dysfunction—it faces plenty of obstacles. For starters, the estimated cost of the entire project is close to $8 billion. The timeline? A daunting 11 years to complete.
Real estate issues, including land ownership disputes, further complicate matters, as do the various companies involved in Madison Square Garden’s operations. For example, Gothamist reports that the group pushing the new design purposefully included Greco-Roman columns to align with President Donald Trump’s demand for classical architecture to be the standard for federal buildings.
And then there’s Amtrak, the federally operated rail company that actually owns Penn Station—its approval, along with that of the states of New York and New Jersey (which each control trains running through the station), would be essential.
Governor Hochul’s office has repeatedly emphasized her commitment to redeveloping the transit hub, but we suspect any real decision is still a long way off. Will we see a new and improved Penn Station in our lifetimes? That’s anyone’s guess.