With bids from three designers due on May 4 in the Penn Station redevelopment, President Donald Trump says that he thinks moving Madison Square Garden would be impractical. In the homestretch, Amtrak, which will oversee the project, is tight lipped ( Photo: Keith J. Kelly/White House flickr) Penn Station: In Run-Up to Bids, Trump Makes Preference Known Amtrak has hushed everyone even more forcefully than on the quiet car. The competition to select a private developer to transform... News 24 Apr 2026 | 01:39
Andy Byford who is overseeing the Penn Station redevelopment project for Amtrak, says he will seek public input for the plans, but only after it has selected one of the three develpers vying for the multi-billion dollar contract. Elected officials want to see the request for proposals sooner. Amtrak Says ‘No Final Decisions’ on Penn Station Before Public Weighs In Amtrak, facing increasing pressure for more transparency in its rebuilding of Penn Station, pledged that “no final decisions”... News 06 Apr 2026 | 12:49
Amtrak set a May 4 deadline for the three contenders who are vying to be the master developer of Penn Station to submit their bids. The winner will be revealed in June. ( Photo: Keith J. Kelly) Anxiety Rises as Deadline Looms to Pick Penn Master Planner After years of squabbling and stasis over the future of Penn Station and its neighborhood, Amtrak will soon make one of the... News 05 Apr 2026 | 02:27
One of the proposed redesigns for Penn Station by ASTM North America, a company that is vying to be the master developer of the project for the station’s owner, Amtrak and the federal government. ( Rendering: ASTM North America) Penn Collision: Amtrak/Feds on Different Track than MTA/LIRR Amtrak and the Trump administration, powering forward on multi-billion dollar plans to rebuild Penn Station, appear to be... News 26 Mar 2026 | 06:24
As three developers vie for the multi-billion-dollar contract overseeing the redevelopment of Penn Station, a big question is what will happen to Madison Square Garden, which sits atop the station. ( Photo: Keith J. Kelly) Then There Were 3: Mystery Bidder Unveiled; Will New Penn Plans Push MSG? Three International developers–Australian, Italian and Canadian—have been selected by Amtrak as the finalists in its competition... News 29 Jan 2026 | 12:31
Andy Byford quietly released the names of the three developers on his short list to be the ( Photo: Wikimedia Commons ) Penn Station Feud Brewing? With Gov. Kathy Hochul and various advocates leaning on him to share more, Andy Byford, Amtrak’s executive in charge of rebuilding... News 24 Jan 2026 | 09:08
The Lithuanian Alliance, which has been based at 307 W. 30th St. since the cultural organization purchased the building in 1910, is now seeking to get its HQ declared a landmark because it fears being vulnerable to Penn Station redevelopment plans. ( Photo: Michael Oreskes) Fearing Penn Station Redevelopment, Lithuanians Seek to Landmark 150-Year-Old HQ For more than a century the Lithuanian Alliance Building has sat on the borderlands of New York City history. Built in 1876... News 16 Jan 2026 | 07:19
Andy Byford, the Amtrak executive charged with overseeing the Penn Station rebuild, has installed a countdown clock in his office to remind when shovels are expected to be in the ground. The target date is Dec. 2027. ( Photo: Michael Oreskes) Mystery 4th Bidder Enters Contest to Rebuild Penn Station “The firing gun really has started.” That is Andy Byford, special adviser to Amtrak, describing the opening on Dec. 16 of... News 19 Dec 2025 | 04:10
A plan circulated by ASTM North America in 2023 envisions Madison Square Garden won’t be moved but the the theater currently on the Eighth Avenue side can be removed to allow more light and a bigger entrance to the rail station with the sports arena still in place. ( Photo: ASTM North America) Now’s the Time to Decide the Fate of Madison Square Garden, Says Andy Byford New York should decide “once and for all” whether to move Madison Square Garden or leave it atop a rebuilt Penn Station,... News 29 Nov 2025 | 05:48
Standing before a giant screen at the Association for a Better New York breakfast recently, Amtrak executive Andy Byford outlines some bold ideas to run trains from the Long Island Rail Road into New Jersey and vice versa. But it will be no simple fix, as all railroads have traditionally ended their runs at Penn Station. ( Photo: Michael Oreskes) Byford Plan: Figure Out How to Get LIRR to Run to New Jersey No one can accuse Andy Byford of thinking small. Byford presented to a breakfast of New York power brokers his game plan for... News 24 Nov 2025 | 05:34
The Trump administration, which took over the Penn Station rebuild effort from the MTA earlier this year, outlined a very ambitious plan in find a master builder by May and break ground on a new Penn Station by the end of 2027. ( Photo: Keith J. Kelly) Feds Seek Master Developer for Penn Station, Hope to Break Ground in ’27 The Trump administration announced that it was pressing forward on a brisk timeline with rebuilding Penn Station and improving... News 01 Nov 2025 | 12:52
The three mayoral candidates are split on the three housing-law changes that are measures on this year’s ballot. (Don’t forget to flip over your ballot to see and vote on them.) ( Photo: YouTube) What Mayoral Candidates Say About Housing-Law Measures It was one of the most virulent moments of the second mayoral debate, triggered by, of all things, three ballot measures... Voices 25 Oct 2025 | 03:56
Veteran photojournalist Dean Moses (center) just as he is being grabbed by masked ICE agents and forced from a public elevator at 26 Federal Plaza, where he was covering immigration hearings. ( Photo: Suzanne Keith via social media) ICE Rousts Journalists Doing Their Jobs at Manhattan Federal Court House Our news colleague Dean Moses had a run-in with the law the other day. Or, more precisely, he had a run-in with lawless federal... Voices 02 Oct 2025 | 09:12
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy (at mic) says the Trump administration wants to get shovels in the ground on the Penn Station rebuilding effort by the end of 2027, before Donald Trump leaves office. He is flanked by Deputy Transportation Secretary Steven Bradbury (left) and Andy Byford, the Amtrak executive who was appointed to oversee the rebuild. ( Photo: Michael Oreskes) Penn Station: Full Steam Ahead but Any Plan to Bulldoze Block to the South on Hold–for Now The physical expansion of Penn Station, which could require the destruction of the block immediately to the south, is “absolutely... News 29 Aug 2025 | 08:57
The plan advanced by the Grand Penn Community Alliance would erect a new façade as a grand entrance leading into Penn Station. The alliance be on the brink of picking up some deep-pocketed backers from South Korea. ( Design: Draw Global/Visuals: Illuminaric Creative) South Korean Firms Want to Invest Billions in Rebuild of Penn Station As part of South Korea’s new trade deal with the Trump administration, Korean industrialists are offering to invest in the... News 23 Aug 2025 | 08:10
