New York Elected Officials Demand Full Transparency on Costs, Developer Selection, and MTA Rights as Trump Administration Cuts Backroom Deals on Nation’s Busiest Train Station

NEW YORK, N.Y. –Today, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (NY-12), Assemblymembers Micah Lasher (District 69) and Tony Simone (District 75), State Senators Erik Bottcher and Liz Kruger, and Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal released the following statement on the Trump administration’s mishandling of the Penn Station renovation project in New York City:

We stand here today in front of Penn Station — united as elected officials of the State and City of New York — to send a clear message to Donald Trump and his administration: We will not stand for secret deals. Not on our watch. Not with our money. Not with our infrastructure. And not with our rights.

Let us be clear — we agree that Penn Station must be rebuilt. With the Gateway Tunnel project moving forward and new tunnels that will transform rail capacity across the Northeast corridor, this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity. We want to see it done. But we will not allow it to be done in the dark, behind closed doors, in private meetings between a president and his billionaire friends — while the State of New York, the City of New York, the MTA, and the communities we represent are left holding the financial bag.

President Trump held secret meetings to privately negotiate the future of this station. His own White House wouldn’t even confirm the meeting took place. This same president tried to leverage billions of dollars in withheld infrastructure funds to pressure Senator Schumer into a backroom renaming deal. This is a pattern — deals made in private, costs dumped on the public, and assets handed to the wealthy and well-connected.

A Word About Andy Byford

Andy Byford is a respected transit professional and we are not here to question his integrity. But Byford himself has confirmed that the White House will have final say over the winning design and developer. This is not a process insulated from politics. Donald Trump — not transit experts, not New Yorkers — makes the final call.

Three Failures. No Answers. No Accountability.

First, there is no transparency. Three developer teams have been shortlisted behind closed doors — all three with strong connections to the Trump administration and its donors, and all three actively lobbying the White House. No RFP has been released. No public hearings. No community input. When all three finalists have ties to Trump’s political world and the White House picks the winner, that is not a competitive process. That is a political favor waiting to be handed out.

Second, there is no honest accounting of the cost. Estimates run as high as $7 billion with a potential public shortfall of nearly $6 billion. The full price tag has not been disclosed. Will commuters face surcharges on their MTA and NJ Transit tickets? Will the State and City be forced to absorb billions they never agreed to fund? New York State has already pulled back its $1.3 billion commitment expecting the federal government to step up — and Washington has put forward just $43 million so far. That gap has to be filled by someone. New Yorkers deserve to know who — before a single contract is signed.

Third, the MTA has been shut out. The agency that serves millions of New York commuters every single day has no meaningful seat at this table. There are serious questions about whether the MTA’s existing rights at Penn Station — rights that protect LIRR riders and the investments New York has already made — will be respected as this process moves forward. We are putting the Trump administration on notice: those rights will be honored and New York’s investment will be respected.

No transparency. No cost accountability. The MTA frozen out. These are not oversights. These are deliberate choices — and they all point in the same direction. Public assets in. Private profits out. New York left holding the bag.

Not On Our Watch

We will not be presented with a done deal cooked up in secret between the President and politically connected billionaires. We will not allow public assets to be handed to private developers under terms the public never saw, never debated, and never approved. And we will not allow the MTA to be frozen out of decisions that directly affect its riders and operations.

We are calling today for a fully open and transparent process. Release the RFP. Disclose the full costs. Restore the MTA to its rightful place at the table. Hold public hearings. Give New York a real voice in the future of its own station.

And let us be clear about one more thing. The people who live and work around Penn Station must have a real voice in its future. This is their neighborhood. Any redevelopment of Penn Station is an opportunity to do something truly transformative — not just for commuters, but for this community and this city. We should be building a true 24/7 neighborhood around Penn Station. Housing — and especially affordable housing. Retail. Public spaces. A living, breathing community that takes full advantage of the finest transportation hub in the entire region. That is what New York needs. That is what our city and region deserve. And that vision cannot be decided in a backroom deal between a president and his billionaire developer friends. It must be decided with the community, for the community.

Amtrak owns Penn Station — but make no mistake, it belongs to the people. It will be rebuilt with public money. And it will be rebuilt on public terms.

We are not going anywhere. We are united. And we are just getting started.

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