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MTA chair accuses Andy Byford, who's leading Penn Station rebuild, of going 'full MAGA'
By
Stephen Nessen
and
Carol Chen
Published Oct 8, 2026
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Carol Chen / Gothamist
By
Stephen Nessen
and
Carol Chen
Published Oct 8, 2026
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MTA Chair Janno Lieber on Thursday accused Andy Byford of going “full MAGA” while leading Amtrak’s Penn Station rebuild.
President Donald Trump took control of the project to rebuild the Midtown train hub from the MTA last year and turned it over to Amtrak, which put Byford in charge. Byford previously served as the head of New York City Transit in the MTA, where riders gave him the affectionate nickname “Train Daddy.”
Lieber’s latest remarks represented an escalation in their dispute over the federal government’s management of the Penn Station project.
“I always knew Andy was a little conservative on social issues, but I never expected he would go full MAGA, and that's what he's done,” Lieber said Thursday.
Lieber was responding to an op-ed published in the Daily News where Byford accused the MTA of holding up the project by not cooperating. Byford also praised Trump.
Trump is pushing the project and chose a developer last spring, with an ambitious goal of breaking ground by the end of 2027. Byford said the MTA could delay the work by not answering basic questions.
“Ultimately, the new Penn Station will be built — the president is going to see to it,” Byford wrote. “With unprecedented leadership from the federal government and the support of our chosen master developer, we have met every project deadline and intend to break ground next year. We are on track to deliver with or without them and we’d like them to share in the glory.”
Lieber said Thursday that Amtrak was asking the MTA to give up rights in its lease and approve plans it hasn’t seen.
Lieber has said the MTA’s 130-year lease at Penn Station gives the agency certain rights, “ including our right to approve their project to make sure it doesn't screw up things for our Long Island Rail Road and subway customers.”
“I have said many times, I am not getting involved in the politics as I'm just here to build a station,” Byford said in a statement in response to Lieber’s comments. “I’ll leave the name calling to others while I focus on building a world-class station for New Yorkers."
Lieber insisted it was Byford who was creating the tension.
“ Our rights are pretty clear, and you can't just threaten us,” Lieber said. “We have to start getting the designs from them, and then we'll give them the feedback. There's no need for this kind of rhetorical drama.”
The Penn Station project is expected to cost $8 billion and Amtrak has yet to secure funding.
Byford was credited with improving transit service after the 2017 “summer of hell,” when the subway was plagued by catastrophic delays.
Lieber and Byford both worked alongside each other at the MTA from 2018 to 2020, when Byford resigned from his role as NYC Transit president amid a dispute with then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Cuomo ordered a reorganization of the MTA that stripped Byford’s control of construction projects and turned them over to Lieber, who at the time was in charge of the agency’s construction department.
The two traded sharply worded letters earlier this year over the Penn Station project. Byford requested the MTA join the construction effort as a “fully involved” partner. Lieber responded by calling the request “bizarre” and saying “there’s no point in rebutting all the blah-blah” in Byford’s letter.
Tagged
Politics
new york city
transportation
Stephen Nessen
Stephen Nessen covers transportation. Since 2008 he has reported on everything from Occupy Wall Street, the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, Hurricane Sandy, to Trump’s campaign for president. His transportation reporting has taken him everywhere from the MTA’s secret Rail Control Center to the gleaming subways of Seoul. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
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Carol Chen
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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