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Pennsylvania Station (New York City)
Encyclopedia
Pennsylvania Station—commonly known as Penn Station—is the major intercity train station
and a major commuter rail hub in New York City
. It is one of the busiest rail stations in the world, and a hub for inbound and outbound railroad traffic in New York City. The New York City Subway
system also has multiple services that connect to the station via two lines. The station is in the underground levels of Pennsylvania Plaza
, an urban complex between Seventh Avenue
and Eighth Avenue
and between 31st Street and 33rd Street in Midtown Manhattan
. Serving 300,000 passengers a day (compared to 140,000 across town at Grand Central Terminal
) at a rate of up to a thousand every 90 seconds, it is the busiest passenger transportation facility in the United States and by far the busiest train station in North America.
Penn Station is at the center of the Northeast Corridor
, an electrified passenger rail line extending south to Washington, D.C., and north to Boston. Intercity trains are operated by Amtrak
which owns the entire station, while commuter rail services are operated by the Long Island Rail Road
and New Jersey Transit
. The station is also served by six New York City Subway routes.
Penn Station saw 8.4 million Amtrak passenger arrivals and departures in 2010, about double the traffic at the next busiest station, Union Station
in Washington, D.C. Penn Station's assigned IATA airport code
is ZYP. Its Amtrak and NJ Transit station code is NYP.
Amtrak uses tracks 1-16 alongside New Jersey Transit as well as the LIRR for 13-16.
All branches connect at Jamaica
station except the Port Washington Branch.
The LIRR uses tracks 17-21 exclusively and shares 13-16 with Amtrak and NJT.
Passengers can transfer at Secaucus Junction
to Main Line
, Bergen County Line
, and Pascack Valley Line
trains, as well as Meadowlands Rail Line
event service.
Passengers can transfer at Newark (Penn Station)
to Raritan Valley Line
trains.
NJT shares tracks with Amtrak (1-16) as well as the LIRR.
(PATH) service to Hoboken
and Jersey City, New Jersey
does not technically serve Penn Station, but is located only a block away, at 33rd Street
and Sixth Avenue
. It was once accessible via underground passageway, but this has been closed to the public for security reasons, and now the only access is via the surface streets.
operates a ticketing counter in the Amtrak section.
is a discount bus company owned and operated through a 50/50 partnership between Greyhound and Peter Pan
bus lines. They operate intercity bus service from two stops at Pennsylvania Station (New York City). The company is best known for its Bolt for a Buck $1 fare promotion.
Penn Station Bus Stop #1 (West 33rd Street and 7th Avenue)
Penn Station Bus Stop #2 (West 34th Street and 8th Avenue)
Penn Station bus stop (West 31st Street and 7th Avenue)
(PRR), its builder and original tenant, and shares its name with several stations in other cities. The current facility is the substantially remodeled underground remnant of a much grander structure
designed by McKim, Mead, and White
and completed in 1910. The original Pennsylvania Station was an outstanding masterpiece of the Beaux-Arts style and one of the architectural jewels of New York City. The station's air rights
were optioned in the 1950s. The option was executed soon after. The option called for the demolition of the head-house
and train shed
, to be replaced by an office complex and a new sports complex. The tracks of the station, which were well below street level, would remain untouched. Demolition began in October 1963. The Pennsylvania Plaza
complex, including the fourth and current Madison Square Garden
, was completed in 1968.
(once known locally as the North River) at Exchange Place
in Jersey City, New Jersey
. Manhattan-bound passengers boarded ferries
to cross the Hudson River for the final stretch of their journey. The rival New York Central Railroad
's line ran down Manhattan from the north under Park Avenue and terminated at Grand Central Terminal
at 42nd St.
The Pennsylvania Railroad considered building a rail bridge across the Hudson, but the state required such a bridge to be a joint project with other New Jersey railroads, who were not interested. The alternative was to tunnel under the river, but steam locomotive
s probably could not use such a tunnel, and in any case the New York State Legislature had prohibited steam locomotives in Manhattan after 1 July 1908. The development of the electric locomotive
at the turn of the 20th century, however, made feasible the construction of a tunnel. On December 12, 1901 PRR president Alexander Cassatt
announced the railroad's plan to enter New York City by tunneling under the Hudson and building a grand station on the West Side of Manhattan south of 34th Street
.
Beginning in June 1903, the North River Tunnels, two single-track tunnels, were bored from the west under the Hudson River and four single-track tunnels were bored from the east under the East River
. This second set of tunnels linked the new station to Queens
and the Long Island Rail Road, which came under PRR control (see East River Tunnels
), and Sunnyside Yard
in Queens, where trains would be maintained and assembled. Electrification was initially 600 volts DC–third rail
, later changed to 11,000 volts AC–overhead catenary
, when electrification of PRR's mainline was eventually extended to Washington, D. C. in the early 1930s.
The tunnel technology was so innovative that in 1907 the PRR shipped an actual 23 feet (7 m) diameter section of the new East River Tunnels to the Jamestown Exposition
near Norfolk, Virginia, to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the founding of the colony at Jamestown
. The same tube, with an inscription indicating that it had been displayed at the Exposition, was later installed under water and remains in use today. Construction was completed on the Hudson River tunnels on October 9, 1906, and on the East River tunnels March 18, 1908. Meanwhile, ground was broken for Pennsylvania Station on May 1, 1904. By the time of its completion and the inauguration of regular through train service on Sunday, November 27, 1910, the total project cost to the Pennsylvania Railroad for the station and associated tunnels was $114 million (approximately $2.5 billion in 2007 dollars), according to an Interstate Commerce Commission
report.
The railroad paid tribute to Cassatt, who did not live to see the completion of his great edifice:
Occupying two complete city blocks from Seventh Avenue to Eighth Avenue and from 31st to 33rd Streets, Pennsylvania Station when completed covered an area of 8 acres (3.2 ha) and was one of the first rail terminals to separate arriving from departing passengers on two different concourses.
of Doric
columns. The colonnades embodied the sophisticated integration of multiple functions and circulation of people and goods. McKim, Mead and White's Pennsylvania Station combined frank glass-and-steel train sheds and a magnificently proportioned concourse with a breathtaking monumental entrance to New York City. From the street, twin carriageways, modelled after Berlin's Brandenburg Gate
, led to the two railroads that the building served, the Pennsylvania and the Long Island Rail Road. Its enormous main waiting room, inspired by the Roman Baths of Caracalla
, approximated the scale of St. Peter's nave in Rome, expressed here in a steel framework clad in plaster that imitated the lower wall portions of travertine
. It was the largest indoor space in New York City and, indeed, one of the largest public spaces in the world. Covering more than 7 acres (2.8 ha), it was, said the Baltimore Sun in April, 2007, “As grand a corporate statement in stone, glass and sculpture as one could imagine”. In her 2007 book, Conquering Gotham: a Gilded Age Epic – The Construction of Penn Station and Its Tunnels, historian Jill Jonnes called the original edifice a “great Doric temple to transportation”.
During the more than half-century timespan of the original station under owner Pennsylvania Railroad
(1910–1963), scores of intercity passenger trains arrived and departed daily, serving distant places such as Chicago and St. Louis
on “Pennsy” rails, and beyond on connecting railroads to Miami, Florida
, and the west. In addition to the Long Island Rail Road, other lines using Pennsylvania Station during that era were the New Haven
and the Lehigh Valley Railroad
s. For a few years during World War I and the early 1920s, arch rival Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
passenger trains to Washington, Chicago, and St. Louis also used Pennsylvania Station, initially by order of the United States Railroad Administration
(USRA), until the Pennsylvania Railroad terminated the B&O's access in 1926. The station saw its heaviest usage during World War II, but by the late-1950s intercity rail passenger volumes declined dramatically with the coming of the Jet Age
and the Interstate Highway System
.
The Pennsylvania Railroad began looking to divest itself of the cost of operation of the underused structure, optioning the air rights
of Penn Station in the 1950s. Plans for the new Penn Plaza and Madison Square Garden
were announced in 1962. In exchange for the air-rights to Penn Station, the Pennsylvania Railroad would get a brand-new, air-conditioned, smaller station located completely below street level at no cost, and a 25% stake in the new Madison Square Garden Complex.
The demolition of the original structure — although considered by some to be justified as progressive at a time of declining rail passenger service — created international outrage. As dismantling of the grand old structure began, The New York Times
editorially lamented:
Its destruction left a deep and lasting wound in the architectural consciousness of the city. A famous photograph of a smashed caryatid
in the landfill of the New Jersey Meadowlands
struck a guilty chord. Pennsylvania Station's demolition is considered to have been the catalyst for the enactment of the city's first architectural preservation
statutes. The sculpture on the building, including the angel in the landfill, was created by Adolph Alexander Weinman
. One of the sculpted clock surrounds, whose figures were modeled using model Audrey Munson
, still survives as the Eagle Scout
Memorial Fountain in Kansas City, Missouri
. There is also a caryatid at the sculpture garden at the Brooklyn Museum
, and 14 of the 22 original eagle ornaments still exist. Ottawa's Union Station, built a year after Penn Station (in 1912), is another replica of the Baths of Caracalla
. This train station's departures hall now provides a good idea of what the interior of Penn Station looked like (at half the scale). Chicago's Union Station is similar as well.
wrote critically in The New Yorker
in 1958 that “nothing further that could be done to the station could damage it”. History was to prove him wrong. Under the presidency of Pennsylvania Railroad's Stuart T. Saunders
(who later headed ill-fated Penn Central Transportation), demolition of the above-ground components of this structure (the platforms are below street level) began in October 1963. Although the demolition did not disrupt the essential day-to-day operations, it made way for present-day Madison Square Garden
, along with two office towers. A 1968 advertisement depicted architect Charles Luckman
's model of the final plan for the Madison Square Garden Center complex, which would replace the original Pennsylvania Station.
A point made in the defense of the demolition of the old Penn Station at the time was that the cost of maintaining the old structure had become prohibitive. The question of whether it made sense to preserve a building, intended to be a cost-effective and functional piece of the city's infrastructure, simply as a monument to the past was raised in defense of the plans to demolish it. As a New York Times editorial critical of the demolition noted at the time, a "civilization gets what it wants, is willing to pay for, and ultimately deserves." Modern architects rushed to save the ornate building, although it was contrary to their own styles. They called the station a treasure and chanted "Don't Amputate – Renovate" at rallies.
Only three eagles salvaged from the station are known to remain in New York City: two in front of the Penn Plaza / Madison Square Garden complex, and one at The Cooper Union, Weinman's alma mater. Cooper's eagle used to reside in the courtyard of the Albert Nerken School of Engineering at 51 Astor Place, but was relocated in the summer of 2009, along with the engineering school, to a new academic building at 41 Cooper Square. This eagle is no longer viewable from the street, as it is located on the building's green roof. Three are on Long Island: two at the United States Merchant Marine Academy
in Kings Point
and one at the Long Island Rail Road station
in Hicksville, New York
. Four reside on the Market Street Bridge
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
, across from that city's 30th Street Station
. One is positioned near the end zone at the football field of Hampden-Sydney College
near Farmville, Virginia. Yet another is located on the grounds of the National Zoo in Washington, DC.
The furor over the demolition of such a well-known landmark, and its replacement by what continues to be widely deplored as a mediocre slab, are often cited as catalysts for the architectural preservation movement in the United States. New laws were passed to restrict such demolition. Within the decade, Grand Central Terminal
was protected under the city's new landmarks preservation act
, a protection upheld by the courts in 1978 after a challenge by Grand Central's owner, Penn Central.
The outcry over the loss of Penn Station prompted activists to question the “development scheme” mentality cultivated by New York's “master builder”, Robert Moses
. Public protests and a rejection of his plan by the city government meant an end to Moses's plans for a Lower Manhattan Expressway
.
In the longer run, the sense that something irreplaceable had been lost contributed to the erosion of confidence in Modernism
itself and its sweeping forms of urban renewal
. Interest in historic preservation
was strengthened. Comparing the new and the old Penn Station, renowned Yale architectural historian Vincent Scully
once wrote, “One entered the city like a god; one scuttles in now like a rat.” This feeling, shared by many New Yorkers, has led to movements for a new Penn Station that could somehow atone for the loss of an architectural treasure.
Tracks 1–12 are used only by Amtrak and NJ Transit trains, and the Amtrak and NJ Transit concourses both have gates to these tracks on the south side of the station. The LIRR has the exclusive use of Tracks 17–21 on the north side of the station and shares Tracks 13–16 with Amtrak and NJ Transit. Except for the shared tracks, a passenger can not reach the LIRR tracks directly from the Amtrak and NJ Transit concourses. Since Amtrak and NJ Transit share tracks, passengers from a NJ Transit train can wind up in the Amtrak concourse, and vice versa.
As of April 3, 2011 the public timetables show 212 weekday LIRR departures, 164 weekday NJ Transit departures, 51 Amtrak departures west to New Jersey and beyond (plus the triweekly Cardinal), 13 Amtrak departures north up the Hudson, and 21 Amtrak departures eastward.
In the 1990s, the current Pennsylvania Station was renovated by Amtrak, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority
, and New Jersey Transit
, to improve the appearance of the waiting and concession areas, sharpen the station information systems (audio and visual) and remove much of the grime. Recalling the erstwhile grandeur of the bygone Penn Station, an old four-sided clock from the original depot was installed at the 34th Street Long Island Rail Road entrance. The walkway from that entrance's escalator also has a mural depicting elements of the old Penn Station's architecture.
After the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, passenger flow through the Penn Station Complex was curtailed. The taxiway under Madison Square Garden, which ran from 31st St north to 33rd St half way between 7th and 8th Avenues, was closed off with concrete Jersey barrier
s. A covered walkway from the taxiway was constructed to guide arriving passengers to a new taxi-stand on 31st Street.
Despite the improvements, Penn Station continues to be criticized as a low-ceilinged "catacomb" lacking charm, especially when compared to New York's much larger and ornate Grand Central Terminal
. The New York Times, in a November 2007, editorial supporting development of an enlarged railroad terminal, said that "Amtrak's beleaguered customers…now scurry through underground rooms bereft of light or character".
. Under pressure from veteran U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan
, plans were publicized in 1999 to move entrances and concourses of Penn Station under this building, which fills an entire city block. When completed, the station inside the building would be named Moynihan Station, in honor of the late Senator.
Initial design proposals were laid out by David Childs
of Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill. In a protracted series of events typical of many large, complicated projects, plans to redevelop Penn Station have stretched further and further into the future. In July 2005, announcements were made that Childs' plan had been scrapped and a new one was unveiled. This second plan was similar to but much more modest than the original. It is the result of a collaboration between the architectural firms of James Carpenter and Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum
(HOK). Later in 2005, Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill reacquired the project and released a third design, which is a compromise. As of June 2006, the design resembles the interior of BCE Place
and does not require the demolition of part of the facade
of the Farley Building.
Amtrak was to be the major tenant of the new building, leaving the old station for use by the NYC commuter rail passengers. Signs of construction appeared in November 2005, with plywood barriers installed on the sidewalks and orange nets covering main facade on 8th Avenue.
Amtrak, however, subsequently decided not to move from its present location, leaving New Jersey Transit
as the Moynihan Station's anchor tenant. NJ Transit has been negotiating a 99-year lease on the Farley Post Office. In the meantime, Cablevision, owner of Madison Square Garden, considered relocation of the Garden to the west flank of the Farley Building. Such a project would lead to Vornado Realty Trust
building an office complex on the current Garden site.
Redevelopment of Penn Station thus continues to languish as various design concepts are debated and altered. A revised version proposed in 2007 would reportedly add 1,000,000 ft² (90,000 m²) of retail space to the new Moynihan train station and office complex, prompting the New York Times to complain that this latest plan "could easily shortchange the public's interests in favor of the private developers…The last thing New York needs is another dreadful Pennsylvania Station that only serves developers and Madison Square Garden."
New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver
has called for greater integration of the project with the larger Midtown renovation plan proposed by developers and Cablevision.
A FAQ for New Jersey Transit's Trans-Hudson Express tunnel suggests that Pennsylvania Station, Moynihan Station, and a proposed rail station under 34th street will be considered to be separate entities. The proximity and connection of those entities would make the Moynihan and 34th St. Stations de facto expansions of Penn Station. Daniel Patrick Moynihan's daughter, Maura Moynihan, has stated that she considers the Farley Building and current Madison Square Garden to be potential sites for two Moynihan Stations: a Moynihan-East and a Moynihan-West.
On April 3, 2008, Madison Square Garden executives announced plans to renovate and modernize the current arena in time for the Knicks
and Rangers
2011–12 seasons. This announcement came a week after they declared that they have abandoned plans to move the Garden to the Farley Post Office site. Hank J. Ratner, the vice chairman of Madison Square Garden said, “We're all for the development of Moynihan Station at the Farley building, as the project was originally conceived. We're not going to be moving."
On February 16, 2010, $83.4 million from the federal government's TIGER program was awarded to the Moynihan Station project, which together with $169 million from other sources allows the first phase of construction to be fully funded. New construction plans include two new entrances from West of Eighth Avenue through the Farley Building, doubled length and width of the West End Concourse, thirteen new "vertical access points" (escalators, elevators and stairs) to the platforms, doubled width of the 33rd Street Connector between Penn and the West End Concourse, and other critical infrastructure improvements including platform ventilation and catenary work. On July 30, 2010, the New York state government approved the plans; as a result, construction was expected to begin in October 2010, with completion of the first phase, including expansion of the west concourse, new entrances and improved ventilation scheduled for 2016. On October 18, 2010, the ceremonial groundbreaking of the first phase of the project occurred, with numerous government officials in attendance.
Train station
A train station, also called a railroad station or railway station and often shortened to just station,"Station" is commonly understood to mean "train station" unless otherwise qualified. This is evident from dictionary entries e.g...
and a major commuter rail hub in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. It is one of the busiest rail stations in the world, and a hub for inbound and outbound railroad traffic in New York City. The New York City Subway
New York City Subway
The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the City of New York and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, a subsidiary agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and also known as MTA New York City Transit...
system also has multiple services that connect to the station via two lines. The station is in the underground levels of Pennsylvania Plaza
Pennsylvania Plaza
Pennsylvania Plaza is the office, entertainment and hotel complex occupying and near the site of Pennsylvania Station, between 31st and 34th Streets and Seventh and Eighth Avenues in New York....
, an urban complex between Seventh Avenue
Seventh Avenue (Manhattan)
Seventh Avenue, known as Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard north of Central Park, is a thoroughfare on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is southbound below Central Park and a two-way street north of the park....
and Eighth Avenue
Eighth Avenue (Manhattan)
Eighth Avenue is a north-south avenue on the West Side of Manhattan in New York City, carrying northbound traffic. Eighth Avenue begins in the West Village neighborhood at Abingdon Square and runs north for 44 blocks through Chelsea, the Garment District, Hell's Kitchen's east end, Midtown and the...
and between 31st Street and 33rd Street in Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan, or simply Midtown, is an area of Manhattan, New York City home to world-famous commercial zones such as Rockefeller Center, Broadway, and Times Square...
. Serving 300,000 passengers a day (compared to 140,000 across town at Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal —often incorrectly called Grand Central Station, or shortened to simply Grand Central—is a terminal station at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States...
) at a rate of up to a thousand every 90 seconds, it is the busiest passenger transportation facility in the United States and by far the busiest train station in North America.
Penn Station is at the center of the Northeast Corridor
Northeast Corridor
The Northeast Corridor is a fully electrified railway line owned primarily by Amtrak serving the Northeast megalopolis of the United States from Boston in the north, via New York to Washington, D.C. in the south, with branches serving other cities...
, an electrified passenger rail line extending south to Washington, D.C., and north to Boston. Intercity trains are operated by Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
which owns the entire station, while commuter rail services are operated by the Long Island Rail Road
Long Island Rail Road
The Long Island Rail Road or LIRR is a commuter rail system serving the length of Long Island, New York. It is the busiest commuter railroad in North America, serving about 81.5 million passengers each year. Established in 1834 and having operated continuously since then, it is the oldest US...
and New Jersey Transit
New Jersey Transit
The New Jersey Transit Corporation is a statewide public transportation system serving the United States state of New Jersey, and New York, Orange, and Rockland counties in New York State...
. The station is also served by six New York City Subway routes.
Penn Station saw 8.4 million Amtrak passenger arrivals and departures in 2010, about double the traffic at the next busiest station, Union Station
Union Station (Washington, D.C.)
Washington Union Station is a train station and leisure destination visited by 32 million people each year in the center of Washington, D.C. The train station is served by Amtrak, MARC and Virginia Railway Express commuter rail services as well as by Washington Metro subway trains and local buses...
in Washington, D.C. Penn Station's assigned IATA airport code
IATA airport code
An IATA airport code, also known an IATA location identifier, IATA station code or simply a location identifier, is a three-letter code designating many airports around the world, defined by the International Air Transport Association...
is ZYP. Its Amtrak and NJ Transit station code is NYP.
Amtrak
Amtrak owns the station and uses it for the following services:- Acela ExpressAcela ExpressThe Acela Express is Amtrak's high-speed rail service along the Northeast Corridor in the Northeast United States between Washington, D.C., and Boston via Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York...
to Boston, Providence, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington - Adirondack to MontréalMontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
- Cardinal to Philadelphia, Washington, Cincinnati, and Chicago
- CarolinianCarolinian (train)The Carolinian is a daily passenger train that runs between Charlotte, North Carolina and New York City. The northbound train 80 departs Charlotte station at 7:40am with intermediate North Carolina stops at Kannapolis, Salisbury, High Point, Greensboro, Burlington, Durham, Cary, Raleigh, Selma,...
to Philadelphia, Washington, Richmond, Raleigh, and Charlotte - CrescentCrescent (Amtrak)The Crescent is a passenger train operated by Amtrak in the eastern part of the United States. It runs daily from Pennsylvania Station in New York City to New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal in New Orleans, Louisiana as train 19 and returns, on the same route, as train 20. Most of the route of...
to Philadelphia, Washington, Greensboro, Atlanta, and New Orleans - Empire ServiceEmpire Service (Amtrak)The Empire Service is a train service operated by Amtrak within the state of New York in the United States. Trains on the line provide frequent daily service along the 460-mile Empire Corridor between New York City and Niagara Falls, New York...
to Yonkers, Croton-Harmon, Poughkeepsie, Rhinecliff, Hudson, Albany, Schenectady, Amsterdam, Utica, Rome, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, and Niagara Falls - Ethan Allen ExpressEthan Allen ExpressThe Ethan Allen Express is a 241-mile passenger train operated by Amtrak between New York City and Rutland, Vermont, via Albany. The total trip is scheduled to be completed in 5.5 hours. Its operations are subsidized by the State of Vermont, and the train is popular among vacationers travelling...
to Albany and Rutland - Keystone ServiceKeystone ServiceAmtrak's Keystone Service provides frequent passenger train service along the Amtrak-owned Keystone Corridor and Northeast Corridor between the Harrisburg Transportation Center in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania Station in New York via 30th Street Station in Philadelphia. It is...
to Philadelphia, Lancaster, and Harrisburg - Lake Shore LimitedLake Shore LimitedThe Lake Shore Limited is a daily passenger train route operated by Amtrak in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States. The train runs between Chicago and Albany, NY, where it divides into two sections that provide thru-service to New York and Boston...
to Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, Cleveland, Toledo, and Chicago - Maple Leaf to Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, and Toronto
- PennsylvanianPennsylvanian (Amtrak)The Pennsylvanian is a 444-mile daytime Amtrak train running between New York and Pittsburgh via Philadelphia. The trains travel through Pennsylvania's capital, the Pennsylvania Dutch Country, suburban and central Philadelphia, and pass through New Jersey up to New York. Trains run once daily in...
to Philadelphia, Harrisburg, and Pittsburgh - Northeast Regional to Boston, Providence, New Haven, Trenton, Philadelphia, Wilmington, Baltimore, Washington, Richmond, and Newport News
- PalmettoPalmetto (Amtrak)The Palmetto is a passenger train service operated by Amtrak over the from New York City south to Savannah, Georgia via the Northeast Corridor to Washington, DC, then via Richmond, Virginia, Fayetteville, North Carolina and Charleston, South Carolina...
, Silver MeteorSilver MeteorThe Silver Meteor is a 1389-mile passenger train route operated by Amtrak in the Silver Service brand, running from New York City, New York, south to Miami, Florida, via the Northeast Corridor to Washington, D.C., thence via Richmond, Virginia; Fayetteville, North Carolina; North Charleston, South...
and Silver Star to Philadelphia, Washington, Savannah, Jacksonville, Tampa, and Miami - VermonterVermonterAmtrak's Vermonter is a 611-mile passenger train service between St. Albans , New York City and Washington, D.C. One trip runs in each direction per day....
to New Haven, Springfield, and St. Albans
Amtrak uses tracks 1-16 alongside New Jersey Transit as well as the LIRR for 13-16.
ClubAcela Lounge
ClubAcela is a private lounge located on the Amtrak concourse (8th Avenue side of the station). Prior to December 2000 it was known as the Metropolitan Lounge. Guests are provided with comfortable seating, complimentary non-alcoholic beverages, newspapers, television sets and a conference room. Access to ClubAcela is restricted to the following passenger types:- Amtrak Guest Rewards members with a valid Select Plus member card.
- Amtrak passengers with a same-day ticket (departing) or ticket receipt (arriving) in First class or sleeping car accommodations.
- Complimentary ClubAcela Single-Day Pass holders.
- Continental AirlinesContinental AirlinesContinental Airlines was a major American airline now merged with United Airlines. On May 3, 2010, Continental Airlines, Inc. and UAL, Inc. announced a merger via a stock swap, and on October 1, 2010, the merger closed and UAL changed its name to United Continental Holdings, Inc...
President's Club Members with a valid card or passengers with a same-day travel ticket on Continental Business First class. - Private rail car owners/lessees. The PNR number must be given to a Club representative upon entry.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Penn Station is a major public transit hub of the MTA Bus system, the NYCTA Subway and Long Island commuter rail service. Penn offers these MTA services:Long Island Rail Road
- Babylon BranchBabylon BranchThe Babylon Branch is a rail service operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. The term refers to the trains serving Montauk Branch stations from Valley Stream east to Babylon. The Babylon Branch is a rail service operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of...
to BabylonBabylon (town), New YorkThe Town of Babylon is one of ten towns in Suffolk County, New York . Located on Long Island, the town population was 211,792 as of the 2000 census. There is also a Village of Babylon located within the town. It borders Nassau County to the West, and the Atlantic Ocean to the South...
with connecting service to MontaukMontauk, New YorkMontauk [ˈmɒntɒk] is a census-designated place that roughly corresponds to the hamlet with the same name located in the town of East Hampton in Suffolk County, New York, United States on the South Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2000 Census, the CDP population was 3,851 as of 2000... - Belmont Park Branch seasonal service to Belmont ParkBelmont ParkBelmont Park is a major thoroughbred horse-racing facility located in Elmont in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, on Long Island adjoining New York City. It first opened on May 4, 1905...
- City Terminal ZoneCity Terminal ZoneThe City Terminal Zone is the name given to a collection of rail lines of the Long Island Rail Road in New York City. Specifically, it refers to all stations that lie in fare zone 1 , which is the set of stations west of Jamaica.-Stations:- Routes : There are three routes that are considered part...
with connecting service at JamaicaJamaica (LIRR station)Jamaica is a major hub station of the Long Island Rail Road, and is located in Jamaica, Queens, New York City. It is the largest transit hub on Long Island and is one of the busiest railroad stations in the country with over 200,000 daily passengers...
station - Far Rockaway BranchFar Rockaway BranchThe Far Rockaway Branch is an electrified rail line and service owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. The branch begins at Valley Interlocking, just east of Valley Stream station; the Long Beach Branch also begins there, heading east and south to Long Beach,...
to Far Rockaway, QueensFar Rockaway, QueensFar Rockaway is a neighborhood on the Rockaway Peninsula in the New York City borough of Queens in the United States. It is the easternmost section of the Rockaways. The neighborhood starts at the Nassau County line and extends west to Beach 32nd Street. The neighborhood is part of Queens Community...
in New York City - Hempstead BranchHempstead BranchThe Hempstead Branch is an electrified rail line and service owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. The branch begins at the Main Line at Queens Interlocking, just east of Queens Village station...
to Hempstead - Long Beach BranchLong Beach BranchThe Long Beach Branch is an electrified rail line and service owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. The branch begins at Valley Interlocking, at Valley Stream station, where the Atlantic Branch tracks from the west are redesignated Long Beach Branch and the...
to Long BeachLong Beach, New YorkLong Beach is a city in Nassau County, New York. Just south of Long Island, it is located on Long Beach Barrier Island, which is the westernmost of the outer barrier islands off Long Island's South Shore. As of the United States 2010 Census, the city population was 33,275... - Montauk BranchMontauk BranchThe Montauk Branch is a rail line owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. The branch runs the length of Long Island, 115 miles from Long Island City on the west to Montauk on the east...
to BabylonBabylon (town), New YorkThe Town of Babylon is one of ten towns in Suffolk County, New York . Located on Long Island, the town population was 211,792 as of the 2000 census. There is also a Village of Babylon located within the town. It borders Nassau County to the West, and the Atlantic Ocean to the South...
and MontaukMontauk, New YorkMontauk [ˈmɒntɒk] is a census-designated place that roughly corresponds to the hamlet with the same name located in the town of East Hampton in Suffolk County, New York, United States on the South Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2000 Census, the CDP population was 3,851 as of 2000... - Oyster Bay BranchOyster Bay BranchThe Oyster Bay Branch is a rail line and service owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. The branch splits from the Main Line just east of Mineola station, and runs north and east to Oyster Bay.-History:...
to Oyster BayOyster Bay (town), New YorkThe Town of Oyster Bay is easternmost of the three towns in Nassau County, New York, in the United States. Part of the New York metropolitan area, it is the only town in Nassau County that extends from the North Shore to the South Shore of Long Island. As of the 2010 census, the town population was... - Port Jefferson BranchPort Jefferson BranchThe Port Jefferson Branch is a rail line and service owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. The branch splits from the Main Line just east of Hicksville and runs northeast and east to Port Jefferson...
to HuntingtonHuntington, New YorkThe Town of Huntington is one of ten towns in Suffolk County, New York, USA. Founded in 1653, it is located on the north shore of Long Island in northwestern Suffolk County, with Long Island Sound to its north and Nassau County adjacent to the west. Huntington is part of the New York metropolitan...
and Port JeffersonPort Jefferson, New YorkThe Incorporated Village of Port Jefferson is located in the town of Brookhaven in Suffolk County, New York on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the 2000 United States Census, the village population was 7,837... - Port Washington BranchPort Washington BranchThe Port Washington Branch is an electrified two-track rail line and service owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York...
to Great NeckGreat Neck, New YorkThe term Great Neck is commonly applied to a peninsula on the North Shore of Long Island, which includes the village of Great Neck, the village of Great Neck Estates, the village of Great Neck Plaza, and others, as well as an area south of the peninsula near Lake Success and the border of Queens...
and Port WashingtonPort Washington, New YorkPort Washington is a hamlet and census-designated place in Nassau County, New York on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2010 Census, the community population was 15,846.... - Ronkonkoma BranchRonkonkoma BranchThe Ronkonkoma Branch is a rail service operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. On LIRR maps and printed schedules, "Ronkonkoma Branch" refers to trains running along the railroad's Main Line from Hicksville east to the line's terminus at Greenport.The section of the...
to RonkonkomaRonkonkoma, New YorkRonkonkoma is a census-designated place on Long Island in the Town of Islip, Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 20,029 at the 2000 census...
and Long Island MacArthur AirportLong Island MacArthur AirportLong Island MacArthur Airport, formerly known as Islip Airport is a public airport located on Long Island, in Ronkonkoma, Town of Islip, Suffolk County, New York, United States. It is seven miles northeast of the central business district of Islip hamlet...
with connecting service to GreenportGreenport, Suffolk County, New YorkGreenport is a village in Suffolk County, New York, United States. It is located on the north fork of Long Island. The population was 2,048 at the 2000 census.... - West Hempstead BranchWest Hempstead BranchThe West Hempstead Branch is an electrified rail line owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York.The branch separates from the Main Line just east of Jamaica Station, and runs southeastward to West Hempstead...
to Hempstead
All branches connect at Jamaica
Jamaica (LIRR station)
Jamaica is a major hub station of the Long Island Rail Road, and is located in Jamaica, Queens, New York City. It is the largest transit hub on Long Island and is one of the busiest railroad stations in the country with over 200,000 daily passengers...
station except the Port Washington Branch.
The LIRR uses tracks 17-21 exclusively and shares 13-16 with Amtrak and NJT.
New York City Subway
- From Penn Station:
- trains at 34th Street – Penn Station (IND Eighth Avenue Line) station
- trains at 34th Street – Penn Station (IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line) station
- From Herald SquareHerald SquareHerald Square is formed by the intersection of Broadway, Sixth Avenue and 34th Street in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. Named for the New York Herald, a now-defunct newspaper formerly headquartered there, it also gives its name to the surrounding area...
, one block east at Sixth AvenueSixth Avenue (Manhattan)Sixth Avenue – officially Avenue of the Americas, although this name is seldom used by New Yorkers – is a major thoroughfare in New York City's borough of Manhattan, on which traffic runs northbound, or "uptown"...
:- trains at 34th Street – Herald Square (BMT Broadway Line) station
- trains at 34th Street – Herald Square (IND Sixth Avenue Line) station
New York City Bus
- M4 (Fifth and Madison Avenues/Broadway/Fort Washington Avenue): Northbound only to West 193rd Street – Fort Washington Avenue, Washington HeightsWashington Heights, ManhattanWashington Heights is a New York City neighborhood in the northern reaches of the borough of Manhattan. It is named for Fort Washington, a fortification constructed at the highest point on Manhattan island by Continental Army troops during the American Revolutionary War, to defend the area from the...
(or the Cloisters MuseumThe CloistersThe Cloisters is a museum located in Fort Tryon Park, New York City. The building, which is a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, was reconstructed in the 1930s from the architectural elements of several European medieval abbeys...
in Fort Tryon ParkFort Tryon ParkFort Tryon Park is a public park located in the Washington Heights section of the borough of Manhattan in New York City, USA. It is situated on a 67 acre ridge in Upper Manhattan, with a commanding view of the Hudson River, the George Washington Bridge, the New Jersey Palisades and the Harlem River...
). - M7 (Lenox, Columbus, Amsterdam, Sixth and Seventh Avenues): southbound to West 14th Street – Sixth Avenue, Greenwich Village, via Seventh Avenue; or northbound to West 147th Street – Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard, Harlem, via Sixth Avenue.
- M20 (Seventh and Eighth Avenues/Varick and Hudson Streets): Northbound to Lincoln Center via Eighth Avenue; or southbound to South Ferry via Seventh Avenue.
- M34 Select Bus Service (34th Street Crosstown): Westbound to Jacob K. Javits Convention CenterJacob K. Javits Convention CenterJacob K. Javits Convention Center is a large convention center located on Eleventh Avenue, between 34th and 38th streets, on the West side of Manhattan in New York City. It was designed by architects I. M. Pei and partners. The revolutionary space frame structure was undertaken in 1979 and...
; or eastbound to FDR DriveFranklin D. Roosevelt East River DriveThe Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive is a freeway-standard parkway on the east side of the New York City borough of Manhattan...
. - M34A Select Bus Service (34th Street Crosstown): Westbound to Port Authority Bus TerminalPort Authority Bus TerminalThe Port Authority Bus Terminal is the main gateway for interstate buses into Manhattan in New York City...
; or eastbound to Waterside PlazaWaterside PlazaWaterside Plaza, formerly a Mitchell-Lama Housing Program-funded rental apartment complex, is located on the East River in the Kips Bay section of Manhattan, New York City.- Overview :...
, Kips Bay. - Q32 (Fifth and Madison Avenues): Northbound only, to 81st Street and Northern Boulevard in Jackson Heights, QueensJackson Heights, QueensJackson Heights is a neighborhood in the Northwestern portion of the borough of Queens in New York, New York, United States. The neighborhood is part of Queens Community Board 3...
.
New Jersey Transit
- Montclair-Boonton LineMontclair-Boonton LineThe Montclair-Boonton Line is a commuter rail line of New Jersey Transit Rail Operations. It is part of the Hoboken Division. The line is a consolidation of three individual lines: the former Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad's Montclair Branch, which ran from Hoboken Terminal to Bay Street,...
to MontclairMontclair, New Jersey-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 38,977 people, 15,020 households, and 9,687 families residing in the township. The population density was 6,183.6 people per square mile . There were 15,531 housing units at an average density of 2,464.0 per square mile...
, with connecting service to HackettstownHackettstown, New JerseyHackettstown is a town in Warren County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town population was 9,724. The town is located in the eastern most region of the Lehigh Valley.... - Morris and Essex Lines to SummitSummit, New JerseySummit is a city in Union County, New Jersey, United States. At the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 21,457. Summit had the 16th-highest per capita income in the state as of the 2000 Census....
and DoverDover, New JerseyDover is a town in Morris County, New Jersey on the Rockaway River. Dover is west of New York City and west of Newark, New Jersey. As of the United States Census, 2000, the town's population was 18,188.-Geography:...
or GladstonePeapack-Gladstone, New JerseyPeapack and Gladstone is a borough in Somerset County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 Census, the borough population was 2,582... - Northeast Corridor LineNortheast Corridor LineThe Northeast Corridor Line is a commuter rail operation run by New Jersey Transit along Amtrak's Northeast Corridor. It is the successor to commuter services provided by the Pennsylvania Railroad along the section between Trenton, New Jersey and New York Penn Station...
to TrentonTrenton, New JerseyTrenton is the capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Trenton had a population of 84,913... - North Jersey Coast LineNorth Jersey Coast LineThe North Jersey Coast Line is a New Jersey Transit commuter rail service operating between New York Penn Station or Hoboken Terminal and Bay Head, New Jersey...
to Long BranchLong Branch, New JerseyLong Branch is a city in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 30,719.Long Branch was formed on April 11, 1867, as the Long Branch Commission, from portions of Ocean Township...
, with connecting service to Bay HeadBay Head, New JerseyBay Head is a Borough in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 968. Bay Head is situated on the Barnegat Peninsula, a long, narrow barrier peninsula that separates Barnegat Bay from the Atlantic Ocean... - Atlantic City Express ServiceAtlantic City Express ServiceACES is an inter-city train service offered by the Borgata, Caesars Atlantic City, and Harrah's Entertainment. It is operated by New Jersey Transit under contract, and funded by the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority...
(ACES) to Atlantic CityAtlantic City, New JerseyAtlantic City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States, and a nationally renowned resort city for gambling, shopping and fine dining. The city also served as the inspiration for the American version of the board game Monopoly. Atlantic City is located on Absecon Island on the coast...
.
Passengers can transfer at Secaucus Junction
Secaucus Junction
The Frank R. Lautenberg Secaucus Junction Station is a major commuter rail hub in Secaucus, New Jersey...
to Main Line
Main Line (NJ Transit)
The Main Line is a rail line owned and operated by New Jersey Transit running from Suffern, New York to Hoboken, New Jersey. It runs daily commuter service and was once the north-south main line of the Erie Lackawanna Railroad...
, Bergen County Line
Bergen County Line
The Bergen County Line is a commuter rail line and service owned and operated by New Jersey Transit in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The line loops off the Main Line between the Meadowlands and Glen Rock, with trains continuing in either direction along the Main Line...
, and Pascack Valley Line
Pascack Valley Line
The Pascack Valley Line is a commuter rail line operated by the Hoboken Division of New Jersey Transit. The line runs north from Hoboken, New Jersey through Bergen County and into Rockland County, New York, terminating at Spring Valley. Service within New York is operated under contract with...
trains, as well as Meadowlands Rail Line
Meadowlands Rail Line
Meadowlands Rail Line is a rail line in New Jersey, United States, operated by New Jersey Transit . Trains run between the MetLife Sports Complex and Secaucus Junction, some with continuing service to Hoboken Terminal...
event service.
Passengers can transfer at Newark (Penn Station)
Pennsylvania Station (Newark)
Pennsylvania Station is a major transportation hub in Newark, New Jersey. Located at Raymond Plaza, between Market Street and Raymond Boulevard, Newark Penn Station is served by the Newark Light Rail, New Jersey Transit commuter rail, Amtrak long distance trains, the PATH rapid transit system, and...
to Raritan Valley Line
Raritan Valley Line
The Raritan Valley Line is a diesel-engine-powered commuter rail service operated by New Jersey Transit , originating out of Pennsylvania Station, located in Newark, New Jersey, with most trains terminating at the Raritan station, located in Raritan, New Jersey.Some weekday trains continue further...
trains.
NJT shares tracks with Amtrak (1-16) as well as the LIRR.
PATH
Port Authority Trans-HudsonPort Authority Trans-Hudson
PATH, derived from Port Authority Trans-Hudson, is a rapid transit railroad linking Manhattan, New York City with Newark, Harrison, Hoboken and Jersey City in metropolitan northern New Jersey...
(PATH) service to Hoboken
Hoboken, New Jersey
Hoboken is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 50,005. The city is part of the New York metropolitan area and contains Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub for the region...
and Jersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City is the seat of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States.Part of the New York metropolitan area, Jersey City lies between the Hudson River and Upper New York Bay across from Lower Manhattan and the Hackensack River and Newark Bay...
does not technically serve Penn Station, but is located only a block away, at 33rd Street
33rd Street (PATH station)
The 33rd Street PATH station, opened on November 10, 1910, is located on Sixth Avenue , between 32nd and 33rd Streets in Manhattan, under Greeley Square and just south of Herald Square....
and Sixth Avenue
Sixth Avenue (Manhattan)
Sixth Avenue – officially Avenue of the Americas, although this name is seldom used by New Yorkers – is a major thoroughfare in New York City's borough of Manhattan, on which traffic runs northbound, or "uptown"...
. It was once accessible via underground passageway, but this has been closed to the public for security reasons, and now the only access is via the surface streets.
Continental Airlines
Continental AirlinesContinental Airlines
Continental Airlines was a major American airline now merged with United Airlines. On May 3, 2010, Continental Airlines, Inc. and UAL, Inc. announced a merger via a stock swap, and on October 1, 2010, the merger closed and UAL changed its name to United Continental Holdings, Inc...
operates a ticketing counter in the Amtrak section.
BoltBus
BoltBusBoltBus
BoltBus is a bus line operating in the northeastern United States. It is a 50/50 venture between Greyhound Lines and Peter Pan Bus Lines providing service between New York City and other cities in the northeastern United States, utilizing the existing operating authority of Greyhound Lines...
is a discount bus company owned and operated through a 50/50 partnership between Greyhound and Peter Pan
Peter Pan Bus Lines
Peter Pan Bus Lines is a long-distance bus carrier headquartered in Springfield, Massachusetts. It operates in the northeastern United States. Over four million passengers per year travel on Peter Pan's bus routes....
bus lines. They operate intercity bus service from two stops at Pennsylvania Station (New York City). The company is best known for its Bolt for a Buck $1 fare promotion.
Penn Station Bus Stop #1 (West 33rd Street and 7th Avenue)
- Service to Penn Station, Baltimore, Maryland
- Service to Metrorail Intermodal Station, Greenbelt, Maryland
- Service to Union Station, Washington, D.C.
- Service to 10th Street and H Street NW, Washington, D.C.
Penn Station Bus Stop #2 (West 34th Street and 8th Avenue)
- Service to South Station (Gate #9), Boston, Massachusetts
- Service to Cherry Hill Mall, Cherry Hill, New Jersey
- Service to 30th Street Station, 30th Street between Market & Chestnut Streets, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Vamoose Bus
Vamoose Bus is a privately owned company providing transportation from their stop outside of Penn Station to the Washington DC area.Penn Station bus stop (West 31st Street and 7th Avenue)
- Service to Bethesda Station, Bethesda, MD
- Service to Rosslyn Station, Arlington, VA
- Service to Lorton VRE Station, Lorton, VA
History
Pennsylvania Station is named for the Pennsylvania RailroadPennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
(PRR), its builder and original tenant, and shares its name with several stations in other cities. The current facility is the substantially remodeled underground remnant of a much grander structure
Station building
A station building, also known as a head house, is the main building of a passenger train station. It is typically used principally to provide services to passengers.A station building is not to be confused with the station itself...
designed by McKim, Mead, and White
McKim, Mead, and White
McKim, Mead & White was a prominent American architectural firm at the turn of the twentieth century and in the history of American architecture. The firm's founding partners were Charles Follen McKim , William Rutherford Mead and Stanford White...
and completed in 1910. The original Pennsylvania Station was an outstanding masterpiece of the Beaux-Arts style and one of the architectural jewels of New York City. The station's air rights
Air rights
Air rights are a type of development right in real estate, referring to the empty space above a property. Generally speaking, owning or renting land or a building gives one the right to use and develop the air rights....
were optioned in the 1950s. The option was executed soon after. The option called for the demolition of the head-house
Head house
A head house is a part of a train station.-Rail terminals:In the context of rail transport, head house refers to that portion of a passenger terminal not housing the tracks and platforms themselves. Typically, the head house contains ticket counters, toilets and baggage facilities, if there are...
and train shed
Train shed
A train shed is an adjacent building to a railway station where the tracks and platforms are covered by a roof. It is also known as an overall roof...
, to be replaced by an office complex and a new sports complex. The tracks of the station, which were well below street level, would remain untouched. Demolition began in October 1963. The Pennsylvania Plaza
Pennsylvania Plaza
Pennsylvania Plaza is the office, entertainment and hotel complex occupying and near the site of Pennsylvania Station, between 31st and 34th Streets and Seventh and Eighth Avenues in New York....
complex, including the fourth and current Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
, was completed in 1968.
Planning and construction
Until the early 20th century, PRR's rail network terminated on the western side of the Hudson RiverHudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
(once known locally as the North River) at Exchange Place
Exchange Place (PRR station)
The Pennsylvania Railroad Station was the intermodal passenger terminal for the Pennsylvania Railroad's vast holdings on the Hudson River and Upper New York Bay in Jersey City, New Jersey. By the 1920s the station was called Exchange Place in response to local nomenclature...
in Jersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City is the seat of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States.Part of the New York metropolitan area, Jersey City lies between the Hudson River and Upper New York Bay across from Lower Manhattan and the Hackensack River and Newark Bay...
. Manhattan-bound passengers boarded ferries
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
to cross the Hudson River for the final stretch of their journey. The rival New York Central Railroad
New York Central Railroad
The New York Central Railroad , known simply as the New York Central in its publicity, was a railroad operating in the Northeastern United States...
's line ran down Manhattan from the north under Park Avenue and terminated at Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal —often incorrectly called Grand Central Station, or shortened to simply Grand Central—is a terminal station at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States...
at 42nd St.
The Pennsylvania Railroad considered building a rail bridge across the Hudson, but the state required such a bridge to be a joint project with other New Jersey railroads, who were not interested. The alternative was to tunnel under the river, but steam locomotive
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
s probably could not use such a tunnel, and in any case the New York State Legislature had prohibited steam locomotives in Manhattan after 1 July 1908. The development of the electric locomotive
Electric locomotive
An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or an on-board energy storage device...
at the turn of the 20th century, however, made feasible the construction of a tunnel. On December 12, 1901 PRR president Alexander Cassatt
Alexander Cassatt
Alexander Johnston Cassatt was the 7th president of the Pennsylvania Railroad , serving from June 9, 1899 to December 28, 1906. Frequently referred to as A. J. Cassatt, the great accomplishment under his stewardship was the planning and construction of tunnels under the Hudson River to finally...
announced the railroad's plan to enter New York City by tunneling under the Hudson and building a grand station on the West Side of Manhattan south of 34th Street
34th Street (Manhattan)
34th Street is a major cross-town street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, connecting the Lincoln Tunnel and Queens-Midtown Tunnel. Like many of New York City's major crosstown streets, it has its own bus routes and four subway stops serving the trains at Eighth Avenue, the trains at...
.
Beginning in June 1903, the North River Tunnels, two single-track tunnels, were bored from the west under the Hudson River and four single-track tunnels were bored from the east under the East River
East River
The East River is a tidal strait in New York City. It connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island from the island of Manhattan and the Bronx on the North American mainland...
. This second set of tunnels linked the new station to Queens
Queens
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
and the Long Island Rail Road, which came under PRR control (see East River Tunnels
East River Tunnels
The East River Tunnels are 4 single-track railroad tunnels that extend from the eastern end of Pennsylvania Station under 32nd and 33rd Streets in Manhattan and cross the East River to Long Island City in Queens. The tracks carry Long Island Rail Road and Amtrak trains travelling to and from Penn...
), and Sunnyside Yard
Sunnyside Yard
Sunnyside Yard is a large coach yard, a railroad yard for passenger cars, in Sunnyside, Queens in New York City.-Description:The yard is owned by Amtrak and is also used by New Jersey Transit. The shared tracks of the Long Island Rail Road Main Line and Amtrak's Northeast Corridor pass along the...
in Queens, where trains would be maintained and assembled. Electrification was initially 600 volts DC–third rail
Third rail
A third rail is a method of providing electric power to a railway train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway track. It is used typically in a mass transit or rapid transit system, which has alignments in its own corridors, fully or almost...
, later changed to 11,000 volts AC–overhead catenary
Overhead lines
Overhead lines or overhead wires are used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains at a distance from the energy supply point...
, when electrification of PRR's mainline was eventually extended to Washington, D. C. in the early 1930s.
The tunnel technology was so innovative that in 1907 the PRR shipped an actual 23 feet (7 m) diameter section of the new East River Tunnels to the Jamestown Exposition
Jamestown Exposition
The Jamestown Exposition was one of the many world's fairs and expositions that were popular in the United States in the early part of the 20th century...
near Norfolk, Virginia, to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the founding of the colony at Jamestown
Jamestown, Virginia
Jamestown was a settlement in the Colony of Virginia. Established by the Virginia Company of London as "James Fort" on May 14, 1607 , it was the first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States, following several earlier failed attempts, including the Lost Colony of Roanoke...
. The same tube, with an inscription indicating that it had been displayed at the Exposition, was later installed under water and remains in use today. Construction was completed on the Hudson River tunnels on October 9, 1906, and on the East River tunnels March 18, 1908. Meanwhile, ground was broken for Pennsylvania Station on May 1, 1904. By the time of its completion and the inauguration of regular through train service on Sunday, November 27, 1910, the total project cost to the Pennsylvania Railroad for the station and associated tunnels was $114 million (approximately $2.5 billion in 2007 dollars), according to an Interstate Commerce Commission
Interstate Commerce Commission
The Interstate Commerce Commission was a regulatory body in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads to ensure fair rates, to eliminate rate discrimination, and to regulate other aspects of common carriers, including...
report.
The railroad paid tribute to Cassatt, who did not live to see the completion of his great edifice:
Occupying two complete city blocks from Seventh Avenue to Eighth Avenue and from 31st to 33rd Streets, Pennsylvania Station when completed covered an area of 8 acres (3.2 ha) and was one of the first rail terminals to separate arriving from departing passengers on two different concourses.
Original structure (1910–1963)
The original structure was made of pink granite and was marked by an imposing, sober colonnadeColonnade
In classical architecture, a colonnade denotes a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building....
of Doric
Doric
Doric may refer to:* Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians* Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture* Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode* Doric dialect...
columns. The colonnades embodied the sophisticated integration of multiple functions and circulation of people and goods. McKim, Mead and White's Pennsylvania Station combined frank glass-and-steel train sheds and a magnificently proportioned concourse with a breathtaking monumental entrance to New York City. From the street, twin carriageways, modelled after Berlin's Brandenburg Gate
Brandenburg Gate
The Brandenburg Gate is a former city gate and one of the most well-known landmarks of Berlin and Germany. It is located west of the city centre at the junction of Unter den Linden and Ebertstraße, immediately west of the Pariser Platz. It is the only remaining gate of a series through which...
, led to the two railroads that the building served, the Pennsylvania and the Long Island Rail Road. Its enormous main waiting room, inspired by the Roman Baths of Caracalla
Baths of Caracalla
The Baths of Caracalla in Rome, Italy were Roman public baths, or thermae, built in Rome between AD 212 and 216, during the reign of the Emperor Caracalla.- History :...
, approximated the scale of St. Peter's nave in Rome, expressed here in a steel framework clad in plaster that imitated the lower wall portions of travertine
Travertine
Travertine is a form of limestone deposited by mineral springs, especially hot springs. Travertine often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, and cream-colored varieties. It is formed by a process of rapid precipitation of calcium carbonate, often at the mouth of a hot...
. It was the largest indoor space in New York City and, indeed, one of the largest public spaces in the world. Covering more than 7 acres (2.8 ha), it was, said the Baltimore Sun in April, 2007, “As grand a corporate statement in stone, glass and sculpture as one could imagine”. In her 2007 book, Conquering Gotham: a Gilded Age Epic – The Construction of Penn Station and Its Tunnels, historian Jill Jonnes called the original edifice a “great Doric temple to transportation”.
During the more than half-century timespan of the original station under owner Pennsylvania Railroad
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
(1910–1963), scores of intercity passenger trains arrived and departed daily, serving distant places such as Chicago and St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
on “Pennsy” rails, and beyond on connecting railroads to Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
, and the west. In addition to the Long Island Rail Road, other lines using Pennsylvania Station during that era were the New Haven
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , was a railroad that operated in the northeast United States from 1872 to 1968 which served the states of Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts...
and the Lehigh Valley Railroad
Lehigh Valley Railroad
The Lehigh Valley Railroad was one of a number of railroads built in the northeastern United States primarily to haul anthracite coal.It was authorized April 21, 1846 in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and incorporated September 20, 1847 as the Delaware, Lehigh, Schuylkill and Susquehanna Railroad...
s. For a few years during World War I and the early 1920s, arch rival Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was one of the oldest railroads in the United States and the first common carrier railroad. It came into being mostly because the city of Baltimore wanted to compete with the newly constructed Erie Canal and another canal being proposed by Pennsylvania, which...
passenger trains to Washington, Chicago, and St. Louis also used Pennsylvania Station, initially by order of the United States Railroad Administration
United States Railroad Administration
The United States Railroad Administration was the name of the nationalized railroad system of the United States between 1917 and 1920. It was possibly the largest American experiment with nationalization, and was undertaken against a background of war emergency.- Background :On April 6, 1917, the...
(USRA), until the Pennsylvania Railroad terminated the B&O's access in 1926. The station saw its heaviest usage during World War II, but by the late-1950s intercity rail passenger volumes declined dramatically with the coming of the Jet Age
Jet age
The Jet Age is a period of history defined by the social change brought about by the advent of large aircraft powered by turbine engines. These aircraft are able to fly much higher, faster, and farther than older piston-powered propliners, making transcontinental and inter-continental travel...
and the Interstate Highway System
Interstate Highway System
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, , is a network of limited-access roads including freeways, highways, and expressways forming part of the National Highway System of the United States of America...
.
Air rights
Air rights are a type of development right in real estate, referring to the empty space above a property. Generally speaking, owning or renting land or a building gives one the right to use and develop the air rights....
of Penn Station in the 1950s. Plans for the new Penn Plaza and Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
were announced in 1962. In exchange for the air-rights to Penn Station, the Pennsylvania Railroad would get a brand-new, air-conditioned, smaller station located completely below street level at no cost, and a 25% stake in the new Madison Square Garden Complex.
The demolition of the original structure — although considered by some to be justified as progressive at a time of declining rail passenger service — created international outrage. As dismantling of the grand old structure began, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
editorially lamented:
"Until the first blow fell, no one was convinced that Penn Station really would be demolished, or that New York would permit this monumental act of vandalism against one of the largest and finest landmarks of its age of Roman elegance."
Its destruction left a deep and lasting wound in the architectural consciousness of the city. A famous photograph of a smashed caryatid
Caryatid
A caryatid is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. The Greek term karyatides literally means "maidens of Karyai", an ancient town of Peloponnese...
in the landfill of the New Jersey Meadowlands
New Jersey Meadowlands
New Jersey Meadowlands, also known as the Hackensack Meadowlands after the primary river flowing through it, is a general name for the large ecosystem of wetlands in northeast New Jersey in the United States. The Meadowlands are known for being the site of large landfills and decades of...
struck a guilty chord. Pennsylvania Station's demolition is considered to have been the catalyst for the enactment of the city's first architectural preservation
Historic preservation
Historic preservation is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance...
statutes. The sculpture on the building, including the angel in the landfill, was created by Adolph Alexander Weinman
Adolph Alexander Weinman
Adolph Alexander Weinman was an American sculptor, born in Karlsruhe, Germany.- Biography :Weinman arrived in the United States at the age of 10. At the age of 15, he attended evening classes at Cooper Union and later studied at the Art Students League of New York with sculptors Augustus St....
. One of the sculpted clock surrounds, whose figures were modeled using model Audrey Munson
Audrey Munson
Audrey Munson was an American artist's model and film actress, known variously as "Miss Manhattan," "the Exposition Girl," and "American Venus." She was the model or inspiration for more than 15 statues in New York City and appeared in four silent films.-Life and career:Audrey Marie Munson was...
, still survives as the Eagle Scout
Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America)
Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Boy Scouting program of the Boy Scouts of America . A Scout who attains this rank is called an Eagle Scout or Eagle. Since its introduction in 1911, the Eagle Scout rank has been earned by more than 2 million young men...
Memorial Fountain in Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
. There is also a caryatid at the sculpture garden at the Brooklyn Museum
Brooklyn Museum
The Brooklyn Museum is an encyclopedia art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At 560,000 square feet, the museum holds New York City's second largest art collection with roughly 1.5 million works....
, and 14 of the 22 original eagle ornaments still exist. Ottawa's Union Station, built a year after Penn Station (in 1912), is another replica of the Baths of Caracalla
Baths of Caracalla
The Baths of Caracalla in Rome, Italy were Roman public baths, or thermae, built in Rome between AD 212 and 216, during the reign of the Emperor Caracalla.- History :...
. This train station's departures hall now provides a good idea of what the interior of Penn Station looked like (at half the scale). Chicago's Union Station is similar as well.
Demolition of station building; construction of Madison Square Garden
After a renovation covered some of the grand columns with plastic and blocked off the spacious central hallway with a new ticket office, Lewis MumfordLewis Mumford
Lewis Mumford was an American historian, philosopher of technology, and influential literary critic. Particularly noted for his study of cities and urban architecture, he had a broad career as a writer...
wrote critically in The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
in 1958 that “nothing further that could be done to the station could damage it”. History was to prove him wrong. Under the presidency of Pennsylvania Railroad's Stuart T. Saunders
Stuart T. Saunders
Stuart Thomas Saunders was an American railroad executive.Saunders served as president of the Norfolk and Western Railway, one of the nation's most profitable, from 1958 to 1963...
(who later headed ill-fated Penn Central Transportation), demolition of the above-ground components of this structure (the platforms are below street level) began in October 1963. Although the demolition did not disrupt the essential day-to-day operations, it made way for present-day Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
, along with two office towers. A 1968 advertisement depicted architect Charles Luckman
Charles Luckman
Charles Luckman was a businessman and an American architect, famous as the "Boy Wonder of American Business" when he was named president of the Pepsodent toothpaste company in 1939 at the age of thirty...
's model of the final plan for the Madison Square Garden Center complex, which would replace the original Pennsylvania Station.
Only three eagles salvaged from the station are known to remain in New York City: two in front of the Penn Plaza / Madison Square Garden complex, and one at The Cooper Union, Weinman's alma mater. Cooper's eagle used to reside in the courtyard of the Albert Nerken School of Engineering at 51 Astor Place, but was relocated in the summer of 2009, along with the engineering school, to a new academic building at 41 Cooper Square. This eagle is no longer viewable from the street, as it is located on the building's green roof. Three are on Long Island: two at the United States Merchant Marine Academy
United States Merchant Marine Academy
The United States Merchant Marine Academy is one of the five United States Service academies...
in Kings Point
Kings Point, New York
Kings Point is a village and a part of Great Neck in Nassau County, New York on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2010 Census, the village population was 5,005.The Village of Kings Point is in the Town of North Hempstead...
and one at the Long Island Rail Road station
Hicksville (LIRR station)
Hicksville is a station on the Main Line of the Long Island Rail Road located in Hicksville, New York. It is the busiest station east of Jamaica by combined weekday/weekend ridership...
in Hicksville, New York
Hicksville, New York
Hicksville is a hamlet and census-designated place located within the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, New York, United States. The population of the CDP was 41,547 at the 2010 census...
. Four reside on the Market Street Bridge
Market Street Bridge (Philadelphia)
The existing Market Street Bridge in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is located where Market Street now crosses the Schuylkill River. The bridge succeeded ferry boats and a couple of rudimentary floating bridges across the Schuylkill River...
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
, across from that city's 30th Street Station
30th Street Station
30th Street Station is the main railroad station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and one of the five stations in SEPTA's Center City fare zone. It is also a major stop on Amtrak's Northeast and Keystone Corridors...
. One is positioned near the end zone at the football field of Hampden-Sydney College
Hampden-Sydney College
Hampden–Sydney College is a liberal arts college for men located in Hampden Sydney, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1775, Hampden–Sydney is the oldest private charter college in the Southern U.S., the last college founded before the American Revolution, and one of only three four-year,...
near Farmville, Virginia. Yet another is located on the grounds of the National Zoo in Washington, DC.
The furor over the demolition of such a well-known landmark, and its replacement by what continues to be widely deplored as a mediocre slab, are often cited as catalysts for the architectural preservation movement in the United States. New laws were passed to restrict such demolition. Within the decade, Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal —often incorrectly called Grand Central Station, or shortened to simply Grand Central—is a terminal station at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States...
was protected under the city's new landmarks preservation act
New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The Commission was created in April 1965 by Mayor Robert F. Wagner following the destruction of Pennsylvania Station the previous year to make way for...
, a protection upheld by the courts in 1978 after a challenge by Grand Central's owner, Penn Central.
The outcry over the loss of Penn Station prompted activists to question the “development scheme” mentality cultivated by New York's “master builder”, Robert Moses
Robert Moses
Robert Moses was the "master builder" of mid-20th century New York City, Long Island, Rockland County, and Westchester County, New York. As the shaper of a modern city, he is sometimes compared to Baron Haussmann of Second Empire Paris, and is one of the most polarizing figures in the history of...
. Public protests and a rejection of his plan by the city government meant an end to Moses's plans for a Lower Manhattan Expressway
Lower Manhattan Expressway
The Lower Manhattan Expressway was a controversial plan for an expressway through lower Manhattan originally conceived by Robert Moses in 1941, but delayed until the early 1960s...
.
In the longer run, the sense that something irreplaceable had been lost contributed to the erosion of confidence in Modernism
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
itself and its sweeping forms of urban renewal
Urban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
. Interest in historic preservation
Historic preservation
Historic preservation is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance...
was strengthened. Comparing the new and the old Penn Station, renowned Yale architectural historian Vincent Scully
Vincent Scully
Vincent Joseph Scully, Jr. is Sterling Professor Emeritus of the History of Art in Architecture at Yale University, and the author of several books on the subject...
once wrote, “One entered the city like a god; one scuttles in now like a rat.” This feeling, shared by many New Yorkers, has led to movements for a new Penn Station that could somehow atone for the loss of an architectural treasure.
Recent history and present day
The current Penn Station, on the site of the old one and using the same platforms, is arranged into "Amtrak", "NJ Transit" and "LIRR" concourses. Each one is maintained and styled differently by its respective operator. The NJ Transit concourse near Seventh Avenue is the newest and opened in 2002 out of existing retail and Amtrak backoffice space. A new entrance to this concourse from West 31st Street opened in September 2009. Previously, NJ Transit passengers could use only the Amtrak concourse to reach their trains. The main LIRR concourse runs below West 33rd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues. Significant renovations were made to this concourse over a three year period ending in 1994. The LIRR's West End Concourse, west of Eighth Avenue, opened in 1986. Parts of the Amtrak concourse (in particular, the shopping areas) maintain the original 1960s styling and have not been renovated since the new Penn Station was built; however, there have been renovations to other parts (the waiting rooms).Tracks 1–12 are used only by Amtrak and NJ Transit trains, and the Amtrak and NJ Transit concourses both have gates to these tracks on the south side of the station. The LIRR has the exclusive use of Tracks 17–21 on the north side of the station and shares Tracks 13–16 with Amtrak and NJ Transit. Except for the shared tracks, a passenger can not reach the LIRR tracks directly from the Amtrak and NJ Transit concourses. Since Amtrak and NJ Transit share tracks, passengers from a NJ Transit train can wind up in the Amtrak concourse, and vice versa.
As of April 3, 2011 the public timetables show 212 weekday LIRR departures, 164 weekday NJ Transit departures, 51 Amtrak departures west to New Jersey and beyond (plus the triweekly Cardinal), 13 Amtrak departures north up the Hudson, and 21 Amtrak departures eastward.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York)
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York is a public benefit corporation responsible for public transportation in the U.S...
, and New Jersey Transit
New Jersey Transit
The New Jersey Transit Corporation is a statewide public transportation system serving the United States state of New Jersey, and New York, Orange, and Rockland counties in New York State...
, to improve the appearance of the waiting and concession areas, sharpen the station information systems (audio and visual) and remove much of the grime. Recalling the erstwhile grandeur of the bygone Penn Station, an old four-sided clock from the original depot was installed at the 34th Street Long Island Rail Road entrance. The walkway from that entrance's escalator also has a mural depicting elements of the old Penn Station's architecture.
After the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, passenger flow through the Penn Station Complex was curtailed. The taxiway under Madison Square Garden, which ran from 31st St north to 33rd St half way between 7th and 8th Avenues, was closed off with concrete Jersey barrier
Jersey barrier
A Jersey barrier or Jersey wall is a modular concrete barrier employed to separate lanes of traffic. It is designed to both minimize vehicle damage in cases of incidental contact while still preventing crossover in the case of head-on accidents....
s. A covered walkway from the taxiway was constructed to guide arriving passengers to a new taxi-stand on 31st Street.
Despite the improvements, Penn Station continues to be criticized as a low-ceilinged "catacomb" lacking charm, especially when compared to New York's much larger and ornate Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal —often incorrectly called Grand Central Station, or shortened to simply Grand Central—is a terminal station at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States...
. The New York Times, in a November 2007, editorial supporting development of an enlarged railroad terminal, said that "Amtrak's beleaguered customers…now scurry through underground rooms bereft of light or character".
Moynihan Station
Hope for a grander railroad station lies one block west. Across Eighth Avenue from Penn Station sits the James Farley Post OfficeJames Farley Post Office
The James A. Farley Post Office Building is the main post office building in New York City. Its ZIP code designation is 10001. Built in 1912, the building is famous for bearing the inscription: Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of...
. Under pressure from veteran U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan
Daniel Patrick Moynihan
Daniel Patrick "Pat" Moynihan was an American politician and sociologist. A member of the Democratic Party, he was first elected to the United States Senate for New York in 1976, and was re-elected three times . He declined to run for re-election in 2000...
, plans were publicized in 1999 to move entrances and concourses of Penn Station under this building, which fills an entire city block. When completed, the station inside the building would be named Moynihan Station, in honor of the late Senator.
Initial design proposals were laid out by David Childs
David Childs
David M. Childs is the Consulting Design Partner at Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. He is best known for his redesign of the new One World Trade Center in New York....
of Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill. In a protracted series of events typical of many large, complicated projects, plans to redevelop Penn Station have stretched further and further into the future. In July 2005, announcements were made that Childs' plan had been scrapped and a new one was unveiled. This second plan was similar to but much more modest than the original. It is the result of a collaboration between the architectural firms of James Carpenter and Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum
Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum
HOK is a global architecture, interiors, engineering, planning and consulting firm. HOK is the largest U.S.-based architecture-engineering firm and the "No. 1 role model for sustainable and high-performance design." HOK also is the second-largest interior design firm...
(HOK). Later in 2005, Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill reacquired the project and released a third design, which is a compromise. As of June 2006, the design resembles the interior of BCE Place
BCE Place
Brookfield Place is an office complex in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, comprising the 2.1 hectare block bounded by Yonge Street to the east, Wellington Street West to the north, Bay Street to the west, and Front Street to the south...
and does not require the demolition of part of the facade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
of the Farley Building.
Amtrak was to be the major tenant of the new building, leaving the old station for use by the NYC commuter rail passengers. Signs of construction appeared in November 2005, with plywood barriers installed on the sidewalks and orange nets covering main facade on 8th Avenue.
Amtrak, however, subsequently decided not to move from its present location, leaving New Jersey Transit
New Jersey Transit
The New Jersey Transit Corporation is a statewide public transportation system serving the United States state of New Jersey, and New York, Orange, and Rockland counties in New York State...
as the Moynihan Station's anchor tenant. NJ Transit has been negotiating a 99-year lease on the Farley Post Office. In the meantime, Cablevision, owner of Madison Square Garden, considered relocation of the Garden to the west flank of the Farley Building. Such a project would lead to Vornado Realty Trust
Vornado Realty Trust
Vornado Realty Trust is a New York based real estate investment trust. It is the inheritor of real estate formerly controlled by companies including Two Guys and Alexander's.- History :...
building an office complex on the current Garden site.
Redevelopment of Penn Station thus continues to languish as various design concepts are debated and altered. A revised version proposed in 2007 would reportedly add 1,000,000 ft² (90,000 m²) of retail space to the new Moynihan train station and office complex, prompting the New York Times to complain that this latest plan "could easily shortchange the public's interests in favor of the private developers…The last thing New York needs is another dreadful Pennsylvania Station that only serves developers and Madison Square Garden."
New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver
Sheldon Silver
Sheldon "Shelly" Silver is an American lawyer and Democratic politician from New York. He has held the office of Speaker of the New York State Assembly since 1994.- Personal life :...
has called for greater integration of the project with the larger Midtown renovation plan proposed by developers and Cablevision.
A FAQ for New Jersey Transit's Trans-Hudson Express tunnel suggests that Pennsylvania Station, Moynihan Station, and a proposed rail station under 34th street will be considered to be separate entities. The proximity and connection of those entities would make the Moynihan and 34th St. Stations de facto expansions of Penn Station. Daniel Patrick Moynihan's daughter, Maura Moynihan, has stated that she considers the Farley Building and current Madison Square Garden to be potential sites for two Moynihan Stations: a Moynihan-East and a Moynihan-West.
On April 3, 2008, Madison Square Garden executives announced plans to renovate and modernize the current arena in time for the Knicks
New York Knicks
The New York Knickerbockers, prominently known as the Knicks, are a professional basketball team based in New York City. They are part of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association...
and Rangers
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the borough of Manhattan in New York, New York, USA. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Playing their home games at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers are one of the...
2011–12 seasons. This announcement came a week after they declared that they have abandoned plans to move the Garden to the Farley Post Office site. Hank J. Ratner, the vice chairman of Madison Square Garden said, “We're all for the development of Moynihan Station at the Farley building, as the project was originally conceived. We're not going to be moving."
On February 16, 2010, $83.4 million from the federal government's TIGER program was awarded to the Moynihan Station project, which together with $169 million from other sources allows the first phase of construction to be fully funded. New construction plans include two new entrances from West of Eighth Avenue through the Farley Building, doubled length and width of the West End Concourse, thirteen new "vertical access points" (escalators, elevators and stairs) to the platforms, doubled width of the 33rd Street Connector between Penn and the West End Concourse, and other critical infrastructure improvements including platform ventilation and catenary work. On July 30, 2010, the New York state government approved the plans; as a result, construction was expected to begin in October 2010, with completion of the first phase, including expansion of the west concourse, new entrances and improved ventilation scheduled for 2016. On October 18, 2010, the ceremonial groundbreaking of the first phase of the project occurred, with numerous government officials in attendance.
See also
- Atlantic Terminal
- Hoboken TerminalHoboken TerminalHoboken Terminal is one of the New York Metropolitan area's major transportation hubs. The commuter-oriented intermodal facility, is located on the Hudson River in Hoboken, New Jersey...
- James Farley Post OfficeJames Farley Post OfficeThe James A. Farley Post Office Building is the main post office building in New York City. Its ZIP code designation is 10001. Built in 1912, the building is famous for bearing the inscription: Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of...
- Pennsylvania PlazaPennsylvania PlazaPennsylvania Plaza is the office, entertainment and hotel complex occupying and near the site of Pennsylvania Station, between 31st and 34th Streets and Seventh and Eighth Avenues in New York....
- Pennsylvania Station (Newark)Pennsylvania Station (Newark)Pennsylvania Station is a major transportation hub in Newark, New Jersey. Located at Raymond Plaza, between Market Street and Raymond Boulevard, Newark Penn Station is served by the Newark Light Rail, New Jersey Transit commuter rail, Amtrak long distance trains, the PATH rapid transit system, and...
- Pennsylvania Tunnel and Terminal RailroadPennsylvania Tunnel and Terminal RailroadThe New York Tunnel Extension , was a major project of the Pennsylvania Railroad at the beginning of the 20th century, to improve railroad access throughout the greater New York City area...
- Transportation in New York CityTransportation in New York CityThe transportation system of New York City is a cooperation of complex systems of infrastructure. New York City, being the largest city in the United States, has a transportation system which includes the largest subway system in the world, measured by track mileage; the world's first mechanically...
External links
- Diagram of New York Penn Station
- "New Penn Station" - Municipal Art Society of New York
- Photos and commentary documenting the demolition, by Norman McGrath
- Remnants of the old Penn Station
- American Society of Civil Engineers paper 1157: The New York tunnel extension of the Pennsylvania Railroad describes
- A short featuring 3D model of old New York Penn Station.
- Seventh Avenue and 32nd Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
- Eighth Avenue and 31st Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
- Eighth Avenue and 33rd Street entrance from Google Maps Street View