To solve the problem of New York's Penn Station, the National Civic Art Society has endorsed a plan--bold though it may be--moving Madison Square Garden and restoring the depot as a grand civic space with classical architecture.
A Gothamist report from last week highlights growing momentum behind the proposal, which was originated by the Grand Penn Community Alliance. To quote:
President Donald Trump said he’d take a plan to rebuild Penn Station and relocate Madison Square Garden seriously if the arena’s influential owner is willing to play ball, according to sources familiar with the talks.
A delegation of politically connected Trump supporters floated the plan during a closed-door Oval Office meeting in September that has not been previously reported. If approved, their proposal would transform Midtown by moving the Garden from its location atop Penn Station, which serves 600,000 daily riders. . . .
Justin Shubow, the president of a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group called the National Civic Art Society, is also involved in the project. He helped draft an executive order signed by Trump last year [encouraging] new federal buildings to be constructed with “the classical architecture of ancient Athens and Rome.”
An Amtrak document guiding the finalists said any proposed design for Penn Station must “be cognizant of” the executive order on architecture that Shubow helped draft.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy appointed Shubow [chairman of] an infrastructure design council last year. In an interview, Shubow acknowledged Grand Penn Community Alliance had ties to the Trump administration.
“We certainly have some advantages. Admittedly, it seems that other master developers… also have a lot of power and influence,” Shubow said of the Grand Penn plan. “This is a huge multibillion-dollar project and I would expect all the parties involved to have aces up their sleeves.”