{"id":304248,"date":"2026-07-23T22:56:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T22:56:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/304248\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T22:56:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T22:56:14","slug":"next-stop-trump-station-administration-wants-to-rename-new-yorks-penn-station-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/304248\/","title":{"rendered":"Next stop, Trump Station? Administration wants to rename New York\u2019s Penn Station"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK \u2013 Will President Donald Trump<\/a> \u2019s name grace one of the most famous — and sometimes maligned — landmarks in his hometown of New York City? <\/p>\n

The Republican administration this week urged leading U.S. Senators to rename Penn Station as it undertakes a projected $8 billion<\/a> redesign of the dreary, underground Manhattan transit hub that also happens to be the busiest in the western hemisphere.<\/p>\n

But the U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, in a Wednesday letter seeking congressional funding approval for the rehab and other major transportation priorities, stopped short of saying what the station\u2019s moniker should be changed to.<\/p>\n

Spokespersons for the transportation agency provided the letter but didn\u2019t respond to follow up questions Thursday. <\/p>\n

Duffy has made it no secret he would welcome seeing his current boss\u2019 name etched across the rail station\u2019s facade. <\/p>\n

\u201cI imagine you\u2019re asking, \u2019Is this going to be Trump Station?’ \u201d the former Wisconsin congressman said last summer<\/a> as officials sought bids for the project\u2019s master developer. \u201cI think that has a nice ring to it.\u201d <\/p>\n

Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt, when asked earlier this year, simply responded: \u201c Why not<\/a>?\u201d<\/p>\n

In his second White House stint, the term-limited Republican has sought to burnish his legacy through public works projects, from a massive new White House ballroom<\/a> to a triumphal arch<\/a> and a failed attempt to rename the Kennedy Center<\/a>. Earlier this month, Florida’s Palm Beach airport changed its name<\/a> to the President Donald J. Trump International Airport.<\/p>\n

Trump has said name change idea wasn’t his<\/p>\n

Trump, for his part, has acknowledged a possible name change was floated in talks with the Senate\u2019s top Democrat, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, of New York. <\/p>\n

But he pushed back<\/a> at the notion that he suggested it in exchange for unfreezing federal funding for the Gateway project<\/a>, a major rail tunnel running under the Hudson River from Penn Station into New Jersey.<\/p>\n

\u201cChuck Schumer suggested that to me, about changing the name of Penn Station to Trump Station,\u201d Trump said earlier this year aboard Air Force One.<\/p>\n

At the same time, he argued that it doesn\u2019t make much sense for such a major New York landmark to be named after another state.<\/p>\n

\u201cI LOVE Pennsylvania, but it is a direct competitor to New York, and \u2018eating New York\u2019s lunch!\u2019,\u201d he said<\/a> on his social media platform Truth Social as he stressed the renaming idea was \u201cbrought up by certain politicians and construction union heads, not me.\u201d<\/p>\n

New York’s Pennsylvania Station, like a handful of others in the country, is named after the Pennsylvania Railroad, the now defunct passenger rail company that built the once grand midtown station.<\/p>\n

Opened in 1910, the original station was considered a marvel of the Beaux Arts style, with imposing, Roman-style columns and an expansive waiting area. <\/p>\n

It was razed in 1963 to make way for Madison Square Garden, forcing commuters to navigate cramped corridors and dingy train platforms underneath the famous arena. <\/p>\n

Recently released renderings call for a return to the hub\u2019s original classical style, with a stone facade, rows of columns and a grand concourse with soaring ceilings. 0ne inside wall also bears Trump\u2019s seal and name.<\/p>\n

Critics slam name-change idea<\/p>\n

U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler, a Manhattan Democrat, said Duffy\u2019s letter underscores how the Trump administration is \u201cwaging a hostile takeover of Penn Station\u201d and seeking to \u201cstrip control\u201d from local authorities. <\/p>\n

\u201cI strongly oppose this ridiculous proposal and am once again demanding answers on the funding,\u201d he wrote on X<\/a>. \u201cNew York taxpayers and transit riders must not be forced to foot the bill for a Trump vanity project.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Riders Alliance, a local transit advocacy group, said the renaming idea was \u201canother huge red flag\u201d that the Penn Station project could become \u201canother multibillion dollar vanity boondoggle.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should be talking about improving service, saving time and money, not monuments, ribbon cuttings or nameplates,\u201d spokesperson Danny Pearlstein said in a statement. <\/p>\n

The Trump administration ordered Amtrak, the national passenger rail service, to assume control<\/a> of the massive redesign last year.<\/p>\n

For years, the Penn Station project had been mired in political infighting among the local transit agencies that use the station. James Dolan, the billionaire owner of the NBA\u2019s New York Knicks and NHL\u2019s New York Rangers, has also strongly opposed any plans to relocate MSG. <\/p>\n

The current plans would keep the famous arena, where Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce married earlier this month<\/a>, but demolish a theater located on the site. <\/p>\n

Spokespersons for Amtrak referred questions to the federal transportation department. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority and New Jersey Transit, which run trains from the station, didn\u2019t immediately comment. <\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Follow Philip Marcelo at https:\/\/x.com\/philmarcelo<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK \u2013 Will President Donald Trump \u2019s name grace one of the most famous — and sometimes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":304249,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[288,4937,31766,153,44600,21556,9228,9,24,55,54,56,11506,87,3736,1473,15839,421,420],"class_list":["post-304248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-business","tag-charles-schumer","tag-danny-pearlstein","tag-donald-trump","tag-james-dolan","tag-jerrold-nadler","tag-karoline-leavitt","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny","tag-philip-marcelo","tag-politics","tag-sean-duffy","tag-taylor-swift","tag-travis-kelce","tag-u-s-news","tag-washington-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304248","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=304248"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304248\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/304249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=304248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=304248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=304248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}