The Trump administration’s plan to start rebuilding Penn Station in 2027 doesn’t formally contain a rebranding — although Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy was coy when requested about that chance Wednesday.
“I think about you’re asking, ‘is this going to be Trump Station?’” Duffy replied when asked if the newly redesigned station would keep the name that’s adorned NYC maps for greater than a century or change into one other Trump-branded edifice in New York Metropolis.
Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York Metropolis is pictured on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. (Gardiner Anderson for New York Day by day Information)
“I think that has a nice ring to it,” Duffy mentioned.
However, he mentioned, “We’re not here to announce a name change,” as he stood within the Penn Station taxiway subsequent to Amtrak’s Andy Byford and Deputy Transportation Secretary Steve Bradbury.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy speaks alongside Particular Advisor to the Amtrak Board of Administrators Andy Byford throughout a press convention at Penn Station on August 27, 2025 in New York Metropolis. (Photograph by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Photographs)
“If you want to have a conversation about name changes, that’s a conversation that can happen at some other point.”
Duffy mentioned Wednesday that that was as a result of Trump, a Queens native who has threatened to ship troops to his hometown, had a particular place in his coronary heart for the Huge Apple.
U.S. President Donald Trump holds a cupboard assembly with members of his administration within the Cupboard Room of the White Home on August 26, 2025 in Washington, DC. That is the seventh cupboard assembly of Trump’s second time period. (Photograph by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Photographs)
“I think we are blessed to have a president who loves New York,” Duffy mentioned. “New York has given the president a little bit of push-back, but he loves all of you.”
“What’s great for us is that he actually cares about the project that we’re engaging in here at Penn Station,” he added. “He wants to know about the developers that may bid and how it’s going to look, because he wants to make sure that this is a great representation for his administration, but he wants it to serve the New York people incredibly well.”
Up to now, nevertheless, the precise particulars behind the plan to rebuild Penn Station stays considerably of a clean slate.
Byford, the Amtrak official and former NYC Transit head who has come on to the venture as a particular advisor, reiterated Wednesday that a few of the key particulars — together with how a lot the venture will value — are contingent on which design Amtrak and USDOT finally select, and the way the anticipated public-private partnership is structured.
“Today we are officially providing advance notice for the solicitation of a master developer,” Byford mentioned. “From today, firms interested in working on this project can officially start the process of becoming our master developer partner — ladies and gentlemen, the steps to completely transform Penn Station starts today.”
Particular Advisor to the Amtrak Board of Administrators Andy Byford speaks throughout a press convention at Penn Station on August 27, 2025 in New York Metropolis. (Photograph by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Photographs)
“Let me be clear on this: We’re going to evaluate everything,” Byford mentioned of anticipated proposals. “It will be an open and fair competition with no preconceived notions of the outcome.”
The feds plan to announce a selected developer in Could of subsequent 12 months — giving them 19 months to finish design work and federally mandated environmental opinions if they need work to start by the tip of 2027.
Whatever the chosen plan, Byford mentioned once more Wednesday that any critical plan will embrace an open, single-level mezzanine and improved circulation of passengers to and from prepare platforms — and can give attention to rising the effectivity of the station in its present footprint.
“I want, in the future, this station to ooze excellence in every form,” Byford mentioned.
