Penn Station redevelopment has reappeared over the past several months to a year. What it boils down to is that Madison Square Garden's lease expires at the end of July.
There are three proposals that would separate MSG from the station while New York Governor Kathy Hochul is backing a fourth proposal that would keep the Garden on top of Penn Station in perpetuity. The big sticking point is once again James Dolan as he was a decade ago.
Like I said in 2013, Dolan and MSG need to leave Penn Station even as NYC Mayor Eric Adams also supports keeping The Garden put. The truth is that the Moynihan Train Hall has actually made things less convenient for Amtrak passengers because they have a longer way to go if they want to catch the subway.
The end result will be reflective of train service in the nation's top region. If Hochul/Dolan/Adams prevail, then on one hand, it will be a sign that even the most important city in the U.S. will be forced to make due with at best a mediocre train station. On the other hand, it may prove what Corridor Capital's Bruce Richardson said a couple years ago:
Passenger train stations will once again become centers of both transportation and commerce. The temples and palaces of the past will not be rebuilt, but a more sensible combination of stations and services as found today on Brightline in South Florida will become the standard template.
