Penn Station has been a disaster for decades. Cramped, sweaty, falling apart — New Yorkers have been begging for a renovation forever. Now they’re getting one: $8 billion, raised ceilings, two new entrances. And “President Donald J. Trump” etched in marble next to a presidential seal, gold railings, columns, and escalators throughout. Of course.
This is a public train station. The busiest in the country. Hundreds of thousands of commuters a day, most of them not billionaires. Design renderings leaked this week showing a monument to the sitting president built into a transit hub that working people depend on to get to their jobs. The White House floated naming the whole thing “Trump Station” in February before deciding that was a step too far. The marble plaque stays.
Amtrak picked the developer. Federal money involved. Public land, public transit, and the president’s name etched in stone. He’s put his name on hotels, casinos, a social media platform, golf courses, steaks. Now the train station hundreds of thousands of people use to get to work every morning. The grift has gotten so big it doesn’t need to hide — it’s just infrastructure now.