The RPA Funding Scandal

The nonprofit Regional Plan Association... has taken upwards of a million dollars in federal tax money from Amtrak to promote the railway's Gateway project... casting anything the group has to say about the future of Penn Station and Gateway in doubt.

The finding was revealed in the RPA's most recent IRS 990 tax filing... Civic leaders see a potential conflict of interest. City Club of New York president Layla Law-Gisiko said on social media the editorial was 'scathing' and that it revealed Amtrak's and the RPA's 'cozy' relationship.

The contributions... may be viewed as a cloud over the impartiality of the more than 100-year-old nonprofit's conversation-shaping advocacy around the Hudson River tunnel project... along with for a separate effort led by Amtrak to redevelop Penn Station.

The Daily News editorial board accused Regional Plan Association (RPA) executive director Tom Wright... of being a 'paid lobbyist' for Amtrak's conjoined Gateway and Penn Station proposals.

'You're going to literally be renovating this station and... below you the trains are going to be running,' said Mr. Wright, whose group has been paid by Amtrak to support infrastructure improvements in the region. 'Can you imagine?'