Current Events –
Penn Station To Receive A Makeover
If you live in New York City or have to travel frequently to Manhattan by train, get ready to shout HALLELUJAH: Penn Station is FINALLY receiving a major makeover!
Current Events
On Wednesday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the Empire Station Complex, a development plan to completely overhaul New York City’s Penn Station. More than 650,000 daily commuters are forced to slither through the dark and dank catacombs of what is arguably one of the world’s worst rail stations and the nations busiest, making Gov. Cuomo’s announcement a celebrated start of the new year.
“Penn Station is the heart of New York’s economy and transportation network, but it has been outdated, overcrowded, and unworthy of the Empire State for far too long,” Gov. Cuomo said. “We want to build Penn Station to be better than it ever was, and that is exactly what we are going to do. This proposal will fundamentally transform Penn Station for the 21st century, and we are excited to move forward with the project in the days to come.”
The $3 billion makeover will revive an old idea to transform the large (and underused) James A. Farley Post Office across 8th Avenue into a state-of-the-art train hall for Amtrak. The new building will not only provide additional space to the overcrowded rail station, but significant passenger improvements as well, including first-class amenities, natural light, increased train capacity and decreased congestion. It will also include Wi-Fi, modernized train information displays and streamlined ticketing, as well as a new AirTrain to LaGuardia Airport.
As for the existing station (which sits beneath Madison Square Garden), it will be dramatically renovated to handle Long Island Railroad and New Jersey Transit commuter rail lines. The renovation will widen existing corridors, reconfigure ticketing and waiting areas, improve connectivity between the lower levels and street level, simplify navigation and expand and upgrade the retail offerings and passenger amenities on all levels of the station. It will also include an underground pedestrian concourse to connect the 2 buildings.
This proposal will fundamentally transform Penn Station for the 21st century, and we are excited to move forward. pic.twitter.com/qiePvuwBUY
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) January 6, 2016
Current Events
According to the governor, the goal is to restore as much of the glorious architecture from the original Penn Station as possible (which was demolished in 1963) and transform the facility into a modern, iconic gateway to New York that is capable of meeting the demands of increased ridership in the 21st century.
Groundbreaking for the public-private partnership will take place sometime this year and construction is expected to take 3 years. The existing post office will be relocated, making it possible to open the new station in that building ahead of other construction. The redevelopment will piggyback on work already underway beneath the Farley Building, where a lower concourse and underground connection to the subway and Penn Station is on schedule for completion in the fall of 2016.
With work already underway for a redesigned and rebuilt LaGuardia Airport, Penn Station will soon become the world-class transportation hub worthy of one of the world’s best and busiest cities.
This is great news because that place is a dump.