Hochul Urges MTA-Amtrak Penn Station Cooperation as MTA Defends 160-Year Lease Rights
Updated
Updated · Gothamist · Jun 24
Hochul Urges MTA-Amtrak Penn Station Cooperation as MTA Defends 160-Year Lease Rights
3 articles · Updated · Gothamist · Jun 24
Summary
Hochul’s office called for Amtrak and the MTA to work “collaboratively and constructively” on Penn Station, softening a public clash after MTA Chair Janno Lieber rejected Amtrak’s proposed partnership agreement.
Monday letters exposed the split: Amtrak adviser Andy Byford invited the MTA to formally join the rebuild, while Lieber called the process “bizarre,” questioned Trump’s follow-through and refused to sign.
Lieber said Wednesday the MTA still has not been shown Amtrak’s plans and argued signing now would expose New York taxpayers to risk while weakening lease protections over work affecting LIRR operations.
That leverage rests on the MTA’s lease, which Lieber said has more than 160 years remaining and bars Amtrak from making major changes without approval, framing the fight as a landlord-tenant dispute.
Amtrak has said it will proceed with or without MTA cooperation on a redesign that would remake Penn Station’s interior and platforms and add a new Eighth Avenue entrance.