{"id":178789,"date":"2026-03-29T12:41:45","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T12:41:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/178789\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T12:41:45","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T12:41:45","slug":"trump-open-to-moving-nycs-gigantic-madison-square-garden-for-train-station-renovations-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/178789\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump open to moving NYC\u2019s gigantic Madison Square Garden for train station renovations: report"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a real estate magnate, Donald Trump helped shape New York City\u2019s skyline through the development of a number of skyscrapers. Now, as president, he\u2019s shown interest in another bold project: relocating Madison Square Garden<\/a>, one of the city\u2019s most well-known landmarks.<\/p>\n

He has listened to a proposal<\/a> that would move the famed arena \u2014 which seats up to 20,000 people \u2014 in order to rebuild Penn Station<\/a>, according to Gothamist<\/a>. The station, a sprawling Beaux\u2011Arts structure, was demolished in the 1960s to make room for the stadium, but its underground concourses and platforms are still in use, servicing more than half a million daily riders.<\/p>\n

A group of Trump supporters suggested the plan to the president during a White House meeting<\/a> in September, multiple sources told the outlet. They represented the Grand Penn Community Alliance, a non-profit organization backed by Thomas Klingenstein, a conservative donor.<\/p>\n

The audacious project \u2014 which has a price tag of about $7.5 billion \u2014 would include erecting classical columns at the train station\u2019s entrance. Madison Square Garden would be relocated to Seventh Avenue, one block over.<\/p>\n

The Oval Office sit-down, which had not previously been reported, took place four months before Amtrak<\/a> named the proposal a finalist in the station’s redevelopment plans. Two other finalists have been named, but few details about the project have since been revealed.<\/p>\n

\"President<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump is open to moving New York City’s famed Madison Square Garden to make room for a new Penn Station, according to a new report (Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The group behind the proposal sees it as an opportunity to radically transform the station, which is tangled and difficult to navigate (AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe meeting and decision to move the proposal forward signal the president is considering the option to move the storied arena,\u201d sources familiar with the matter told Gothamist.<\/p>\n

However, the sources added that the 79-year-old president knows the plan is dead in the water without the support of James Dolan, the long-time owner of the arena. Dolan, who also owns the New York Knicks, explicitly ruled out relocating Madison Square Garden in 2023.<\/p>\n

For decades, advocacy groups have been campaigning to revive the grandeur of the long-lost Penn Station.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was one of the greatest buildings we\u2019ve had in this country, and it\u2019s astonishing that we decided to tear it down,\u201d architect Richard Cameron told Gothamist. \u201cPeople think of it as an architectural crime that we wouldn\u2019t have figured out the value of that building before destroying it is just extraordinary.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Grand Penn Alliance also sees their proposal as a way to transform the underground transit system, which is tangled and difficult to navigate.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The plan would cost an estimated $7.5 billion, a sum that includes the cost of moving Madison Square Garden (Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\"James<\/p>\n

James Dolan, the billionaire owner of Madison Square Garden, has publicly dismissed the idea of moving the arena, where Trump hosted a campaign rally in 2024 (Middle East Images\/AFP via Getty)<\/p>\n

But the plan is not without its detractors. Rep. Jerry Nadler, a New York Democrat, told the outlet that he has concerns about how Amtrak is moving forward with its selection process.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t know how it\u2019s going to be financed \u2026 President Trump is involved and maybe he\u2019ll select the winning bidder. On what criteria? We don\u2019t know,\u201d Nadler said. \u201cThe whole thing is secret.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a New York native, President Trump is personally invested in revitalizing New York Penn Station,\u201d White House spokesperson Kush Desai said. \u201cAny notion that the president is putting his finger on the scale unfairly is completely baseless.\u201d<\/p>\n

Klingenstein, the wealthy donor behind the proposal, who gave upwards of $13 million to Republicans in 2024, has suggested renaming the new Penn Station to \u201cTrump Station,\u201d according to Gothamist.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the kind of thing that not only would Trump want to put his name on it, but should put his name on it,\u201d he said. \u201cIf it comes to pass, it will be an example of one man \u2014 because Trump is the only one who can make this happen \u2014 doing a great thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The president has reportedly had the same idea.<\/p>\n

In February, he said he would unfreeze millions of dollars in federal funds<\/a> for a $16 billion New York infrastructure project if Sen. Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, agreed to rename Penn Station, as well as Virginia’s Dulles International Airport, after him, according to reports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As a real estate magnate, Donald Trump helped shape New York City\u2019s skyline through the development of a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":178790,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[153,31831,72287,44600,222,9,24,1104,56,63,65,64,7968,72288,45197,5561],"class_list":["post-178789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-donald-trump","tag-gothamist","tag-grand-penn-community-alliance","tag-james-dolan","tag-madison-square-garden","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-knicks","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-penn-station","tag-thomas-klingenstein","tag-trump-supporters","tag-white-house"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=178789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178789\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/178790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=178789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=178789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}