5 months after Penn Station czar Andy Byford promised New Yorkers a “top-to-bottom transformation of every aspect of Penn Station,” many of the choices to overtake the nation’s busiest rail hub appear the identical as they have been earlier than the feds took over the challenge final 12 months.
Earlier this week, Amtrak, the federal passenger railway that controls the Midtown station, quietly launched a short-listed group of builders chosen to rebuild the station, two of which needs to be acquainted to those that’ve watched the challenge.
The announcement included no particulars on the plans put forth by any of the three builders, however two needs to be acquainted to New Yorkers who’ve watched efforts to rebuild the station progress.
Among the many short-listed corporations is Grand Penn Companions, the company face of a plan to rebuild Penn Station as a Neo-classical advanced.
As of final 12 months, the Grand Penn plan proposed constructing a grand, columned entrance on Seventh Ave., harking back to the unique Penn Station.
The Grand Penn plan would additionally add a park between the brand new station and Moynihan Prepare Corridor, opening up inexperienced area in one among Manhattan’s extra congested communities.
The catch is that the proposal would require Madison Sq. Backyard, which at the moment sits atop Penn Station, to be moved elsewhere — a proposition MSG kingpin James Dolan has repeatedly dismissed.
One other of the short-listed corporations is Penn Transformation Companions, a consortium funded by Halmar, the U.S. arm of Italian agency ASTM Group, which has been hawking a Penn Station plan for a number of years.
The newest ASTM plan would contain a “grand entrance” on Eighth Ave. in area bought from Madison Sq. Backyard, however in any other case the sports activities enviornment would keep in place.
The third agency on Amtrak’s quick checklist — Penn Ahead Now, funded by funding supervisor Fengate — is a thriller. An internet site related to the consortium lists architectural, monetary, planning and constructing corporations linked with the hassle, however no renderings or descriptions of a imaginative and prescient for Penn Station.
An Amtrak spokesman didn’t instantly reply when requested for additional particulars on the corporations or their proposals.
Amtrak officers have mentioned they plan to select a developer by this spring to be able to preserve to an formidable timeline to have shovels within the floor by the top of subsequent 12 months — what Deputy Secretary of Transportation Steven Bradbury known as engaged on “Trump time.” Nevertheless, no public “request for proposals” may very well be discovered on Amtrak’s procurement web site Thursday.
“As of today, a pretty major piece of their portfolio is not on there,” mentioned Rachael Fauss, a senior coverage advisor for good-government group Reinvent Albany. “It’s standard practice to release RFPs to the public.”
It’s possible that one of many three builders talked about above will likely be picked for the challenge.
Gov. Hochul — who has been a proponent of the federal takeover of Penn Station’s redesign and the $1.2 billion in state cash that call freed up — known as on Amtrak to be extra forthcoming Thursday.
