The reconstruction of Penn Station’s much-maligned concourse will move ahead even though the controversial new office towers meant to underwrite the project’s $7 billion price tag likely won’t be built for years, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Monday.
So far, state officials have set aside $1.3 billion for the project — but acknowledged they would have to lock down substantial new federal funding to make up the difference after the COVID-era shift to work-from-home put the skyscraper plan on the shelf.
“I want to get this done,” said Gov. Kathy Hochul. “This is the building that I’m focusing on in the here-and-now.”
Hochul and the MTA officials also said they would be soliciting plans from architects and outside firms as it sketches out a more detailed vision of how best to overhaul the Penn Station’s main level — though they expected the broad outlines already sketched by the agency, Amtrak and New Jersey Transit would remain in place.
Those plans call for combining two floors at Penn Station into one unified concourse level, doubling — or more — the heights of the low-slung ceilings throughout the station, which have long been a major source of complaints.
It would also erect a dramatic new train hall between 7th and 8th Avenues — where the Madison Square Garden’s currently unused taxiway sits — that would allow sunlight to easily reach the new concourse level for the first time since the original complex was demolished.
The MTA’s vision also calls for the construction of two major new entrances on the corners of 8th Avenue.
The owners of Madison Square Garden have pushed back hard against the plan currently offered by the railroads, arguing it could interfere with operations and sports games.
Meanwhile, an Italian firm, which has hired former MTA chairman Pat Foye as a top executive, has countered with its own proposal that would demolish Madison Square Garden’s auxiliary venue, the Hulu Theater, to create a new 8th Avenue train hall into the complex.
ASTM has yet to put a formal price tag on its plan and MTA officials have pushed back hard against their 8th Avenue train hall, arguing it would potentially be a $1 billion giveaway to MSG.