Gov. Kathy Hochul is seeking to lower the temperature in a dispute between the MTA and Amtrak over the federal government’s push to rebuild Penn Station.
Amtrak senior adviser Andy Byford, who is leading the project, wrote a letter to MTA Chair Janno Lieber on Monday inviting the agency to formally join as a partner. Lieber responded with a sharply worded letter raising questions about Amtrak’s process, and whether President Donald Trump would actually follow through with the development.
Lieber described Amtrak’s planning process as “bizarre,” wrote it had “the appearance of impropriety” and declined to sign an agreement to officially partner on the project. Penn Station is owned by the national railroad, and the MTA leases a portion of the facility.
Late Tuesday, Hochul spokesperson Sean Butler struck a notably different tone. He said in a statement that Amtrak and the MTA, which Hochul controls, should work together.
"Governor Hochul believes that delivering the world-class Penn Station New Yorkers deserve is too important to not work collaboratively and constructively with all partners. Her leadership secured the full federal commitment to fund and deliver improvements to an asset Amtrak has owned for decades,” Butler wrote. “She has also been clear that this project must benefit all riders, including hundreds of thousands of subway and LIRR customers, while also being conducted transparently."
The governor’s office declined to say whether Hochul signed off on Lieber’s letter before he sent it to Amtrak. During a news conference Wednesday, Lieber also declined to respond to a question about whether Hochul signed off on his letter.
During the news conference, Lieber said he did not think there was daylight between him and Hochul on the Penn Station project.
Byford wrote in his initial letter that he plans to move forward with the Penn Station rebuild with or without the MTA’s cooperation. The design selected by Amtrak would overhaul the train hub’s interior, platforms and add a grand new Eighth Avenue entrance.
Byford has said he met with Hochul earlier this month to review the designs and try to convince her to help fund the project.
Lieber said Wednesday he still had many questions about the project.
“I very much agree with [Hochul] that we can and should partner and collaborate and work with [Amtrak] on their ideas, which no one has shared those with us,” Lieber said during an MTA board meeting on Wednesday. “I’m glad that she had an opportunity to see it (the design) if she did.”
Lieber said that signing the agreement offered by Amtrak would put New York taxpayers at unnecessary risk. Lieber noted that Byford used to work at the MTA as NYC Transit President.
“Although Andy Byford is a much loved former member of the MTA family, I’m afraid that I’m declining to be the first person in New York real estate history to say I want to enter into a real estate deal with Donald Trump with no lease and no protections and just take a bet, roll the dice,” said Lieber. “We can’t do that for our New York riders.”
Lieber compared the disagreement with Amtrak over Penn Station to a landlord-tenant dispute.
“We have a lease that has 160-odd years left on it that says you can’t come into our house and make changes without our approval,” he said. “That’s what you want when you’re a tenant, you don’t want somebody to come into your house, your apartment, your landlord to come and tear it up.”
The MTA has stressed their lease agreement with Amtrak gives the New York agency leverage over any construction at Penn Station that could affect LIRR’s operations. Lieber said he didn’t want to give up that power.
“We’re ready to collaborate, we just don’t need a brand new agreement that eviscerates key rights that we have in our lease,” he said. “In order to do it, just send us the plans, brief us, we will give you your feedback.”
