What Penn Station’s $6 Billion Makeover Means for NYC

For decades, New York City’s Pennsylvania Station has been an eyesore. The Western Hemisphere’s busiest transit hub, it’s a deflating gateway to the the Big Apple for tourists and a daily ordeal for commuters from Long Island and New Jersey. Now it’s poised to get an expensive makeover. That is, if government officials, neighborhood activists, investors and real estate developers can agree on how to carry out a $6 billion renovation that, while a step down from a plan originally put forward by former Governor Andrew Cuomo, would be one of the biggest transportation projects in recent New York history.

The station is owned by Amtrak, serving as the national rail carrier’s main hub. New Jersey Transit, the Long Island Rail Road and the New York City subway system also use it. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs the LIRR and the subways, has plans to create an extension of its Metro-North Railroad’s New Haven Line to reach Penn Station. Prior to the pandemic, the station served 600,000 daily passengers.