Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Penn Station overhaul narrows to 3 finalists with differing visions for Madison Square Garden
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Published Jan 21, 2026
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile via Getty Images
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Published Jan 21, 2026
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
To move, or not to move?
That was the question hovering over Madison Square Garden on Wednesday as Amtrak released a shortlist of finalists to overhaul Penn Station, located beneath the arena.
The national railroad announced three consortia will vie for a lucrative contract to rebuild — and eventually run — the nation’s busiest transit hub, which is notorious for being dingy, dark and difficult to navigate. The list comes less than a year after President Donald Trump took control of the long-stalled project from the MTA and turned it over to Amtrak, which owns the station.
The feds provided no details on the actual proposals from each group, but two of them have publicly presented their visions to redevelop the station. One would force Madison Square Garden to move across Seventh Avenue to create a new light-filled train station. Another would leave the arena in place, while carving out new entrances and windows that make the station easier to navigate.
The proposal to move Madison Square Garden comes from the group Grand Penn Partners. Last year, the group released a plan to build a new arena on the site of the now-demolished Hotel Pennsylvania.
Grand Penn is backed by the conservative National Civic Art Society and supported by mega-Trump donor Thomas Klingenstein. The partners believe in bringing neoclassical architecture back to American buildings through Greco-Roman columns and marble. They describe the aesthetic as “Make America Beautiful Again.” Macquarie, an Australian investment bank, is behind the plan’s financing.
“That the Macquarie Group, the world’s largest infrastructure asset manager, is backing the Grand Penn proposal shows just how superior the scheme is,” Justin Shubow, president of the National Civic Art Society, said in a statement. “The National Civic Art Society is proud that our original idea for a new classical station — which we began campaigning for over 10 years ago — is closer to fruition than ever.”
Halmar International, which is currently expanding the Second Avenue subway into East Harlem, is behind the other public proposal. Its plan would keep MSG in place and renovate Penn Station without expanding service, while also renovating the exterior of the arena’s dome.
Penn Forward Now, the third finalist, is a consortium of major developers including Tutor, Parsons and ARUP. That design proposal to revitalize Penn Station has yet to be publicly shared.
“As scheduled in the project timeline, three qualified teams have been shortlisted to compete to become the Master Developer and lead the delivery of Penn Station’s comprehensive transformation,” federal DOT spokesperson Danna Almeida said in a statement.
The DOT said the master developer will be selected in May and announced publicly by June.
The agency appointed former New York City Transit President Andy Byford to lead the redevelopment, setting an ambitious deadline to have shovels in the ground by 2027. The arena’s operating permit expires in 2028.
Tagged
manhattan
transportation
Ramsey Khalifeh
Ramsey Khalifeh is a transportation reporter on the NYC Accountability desk covering the largest transit system in the country. He was previously a general assignment reporter at Gothamist and worked on the Boston Globe's metro and copy desk. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Central Park birders, others remember 63-year-old woman killed in park
People who said they knew her described her as an artist and a familiar presence in the Ramble.
By
Charles Lane
Published Sep 28, 2026 at 7:04 p.m. ET
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
News
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
By
Arya Sundaram
A Brooklyn jail cell filled with smoke. The emergency button failed, a lawyer said.
By
Samantha Max
Crews launch tunnel machines to dig first new Hudson River rail tunnels since 1910
By
Michael Sol Warren
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .