FILE - Commuters walk through the West End Concourse to access the Long Island Rail Road and Penn Station in New York, June 15, 2017. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, File)
FFNEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump's administration is taking control of the $7 billion reconstruction project for New York City's busy but aging Penn Station, sidelining the city's mass transit agency, the transportation chief said Thursday.
State and city officials have sought for years to remake the country’s busiest rail hub, which is beleaguered by problems ranging from aging tracks to dreary commuter passageways.
Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said his agency could deliver a world-class Penn Station by working with Amtrak, the federally chartered railroad company that owns the midtown Manhattan hub. Duffy said he was withdrawing the Metropolitan Transportation Authority as lead for the reconstruction project.
“New York City deserves a Penn Station that reflects America’s greatness and is safe and clean. The MTA’s history of inefficiency, waste, and mismanagement also meant that a new approach is needed," Duffy said in a prepared release.
The administration did not immediately provide details of how the reconstruction would proceed or how long it would take.
Gov. Kathy Hochul called the move “a major victory for New Yorkers†that would save them tax money. Hochul said she had asked Trump for federal funding.
“I want to thank the President and Secretary Duffy for taking on the sole responsibility to deliver the beautiful new $7 billion station that New Yorkers deserve,†Hochul said in a prepared release.
Authority Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said he was glad the federal government was focusing on the project, and that he expected the MTA to participate in the plans as the station's major leaseholder.
Duffy has recently clashed with the transit agency over and the on drivers entering the most traffic-snarled parts of Manhattan. Federal authorities have to end the congestion tolls.
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