The "A Shared Vision For Penn Station" recently announced by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is just that, a vision with no concrete foundation. We still need more details concerning the scope of work, cost, budget, funding source and detailed timetable for construction of New York Gov. Kathy Hochul's proposed $7 to $8 billion Penn Station improvement project. Notably absent at her announcement were Sen. Schumer (D-NY), New York City Mayor Eric Adams, along with any elected officials from Queens, Nassau or Suffolk Counties, many of whom have constituents that are Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) riders. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, New Jersey Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and New Jersey Transit (NJ Transit) were also missing. Perhaps many of them are not on board with Hochul's latest Penn Station vision.
The project, just like completion of the new Penn Station $700 million Main Concourse and new 33rd Street/7th Avenue entrance, missed something critical. The LIRR previously spent $200 million for a new entrance on West 34th Street, along with work on the Main Concourse in 1994 and $300 million for the West End Concourse in 2010. There is also the $1.6 billion Moynihan Train Hall in 2021. There is even less seating in the reopened old 7th Avenue LIRR waiting room. The total $2.7 billion did nothing to eliminate periodic cancellation and consolidation of LIRR, NJ Transit and Amtrak trains utilizing either the East River Tunnels (due to signal, power or other malfunctions) or improve the reliability of LIRR service.
These capital improvements are putting lipstick on a pig. The same holds true for Hochul's newest Penn Station boondoggle. Her pet project does nothing to repair the East River Tunnels, add additional seating, platform and track capacity or restore frequency of direct service lost by diversion of many former Penn Station bound trains to the new $12.6 billion East Side Access to Grand Central Madison. Most LIRR commuters desire safe, reliable, frequent service, including a seat while waiting for a train, at a reasonable price. Port Washington branch LIRR riders miss the previous frequent one seat ride to Penn Station. It is now primarily once, rather than twice hourly. The reliability of service via the East River tunnels will not happen until Amtrak completes repairs to all four tunnels by 2027 or later.
By uncoupling Phase 2 from Phase 1, the billions in Payments In Lieu Of Taxes (PILOT) funding from developers for construction of up to eight office buildings as part of the original project scope will disappear. There is only $1.3 billion in state funding. This leaves a shortfall of a minimum of $5.7 billion. Hochul said Washington will provide these funds. A majority would be from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Capital Investment Grant (CIG) Core Capacity New Starts program. There is no evidence she has directed Metropolitan Transportation Authority MTA Chairman Janno Lieber to enter this project into the FTA's CIG Core Capacity New Starts program. What is the current status of any dialogue with FTA concerning any potential future funding?
The fatal flaw of her vision is financial. This project will be competing against many other transportation priorities supported by Hochul and Lieber for federal funding. This includes:
- $18 billion for Phase 1 or full build $39 billion for Gateway Tunnel
- $7.7 billion for 2nd Avenue Subway Phase 2,
- $10 billion for Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) 42nd Street Manhattan Bus Terminal
- $10 billion for PANYNJ Cross Harbor Freight Tunnel
- $5.5 billion for Brooklyn/Queens Light Rail Connector.
There is not enough space here to list all the other competing projects. All of these projects have something in common that elected officials and transit agency CEO's never want to acknowledge. As any major capital project advances through design and engineering, estimated project costs continue to rise. Responses to any construction procurement can come in above the project engineers estimate. Any final project cost upon completion could increase based upon responses to bids, along with change orders during construction due to last minute changes in scope or unforeseen site conditions, inspection and acceptance of all work that also includes quality assurance and quality control during construction followed by beneficial use, completion of contract punch list items (to insure contractor built the asset to meet design and engineering contract specifications), receipt of asset maintenance manuals followed by contract(s) closeout, release of retain age and final payment. The final price tag could be billions more than the current cost estimates.
Based upon my previous experience working for the FTA, there will never be enough funding available from Washington to advance all of these projects at the same time in coming years.
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Larry Penner is a transportation advocate, historian and writer who previously served as a former director for the Federal Transit Administration Region 2 New York Office of Operations and Program Management. This included the development, review, approval and oversight for billions in capital projects and programs for New Jersey Transit, New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, NYC Transit bus, subway and Staten Island Railway, Long Island and Metro North railroads, MTA Bus, NYCDOT Staten Island Ferry along with 30 other transit agencies in New York and New Jersey.
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