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Maybe the best thing about the Trump administration kicking the MTA out of any Penn Station redo is that it puts a stake through the heart of the Cuomo-Hochul plans — which would’ve guaranteed the least bang for the buck and a project designed to serve donors and other special interests.
It also frees any project from New York laws that balloon costs on major public works by enabling the worse union featherbedding and mandating payoffs to “community” politicians.
In truth, the only reason to do anything (beyond maybe some track-extension work) at Penn now is to provide cash baths for the connected and a pretext for politicians to fund-raise from monied interests — both bribes for those seeking a piece of the action and protection money from those aiming to guard what they have.
The MTA certainly has far better uses for any cash that comes its way; it was only dragged into these plans as a pawn in the pols’ games.
Penn Station is now just fine as it is. For the hundreds of thousands of commuters who flow through daily, recent projects have done more than enough — NJTransit and the LIRR have perfectly fine new vestibules, entrances and exits, including Moynihan Station.
Nor do commuters want fresh disruptions for work that does nothing to speed up the trains: Nobody spends more time at Penn than they must, because they’re all on their way somewhere else.
Which makes burning billions of dollars to turn its central hall into a grand architectural masterpiece pointless except for those looking to wet their beaks.
This development isn’t remotely about President Donald Trump looking to put (yet more of) his stamp on the city; Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is just protecting federal taxpayers from another New York scam. “The days of reckless spending and blank checks are over” was the key part of his announcement.
Gov. Hochul is peeved because it shuts down her scheming, but New York taxpayers (and the MTA!) can celebrate their liberation from a worthless white elephant.