Pennsylvania Station (New York City)

New York Pennsylvania Station
Station statistics
Address	Seventh Avenue and Eighth Avenue between 31st Street & 33rd Street, New York, NY 10001
Lines	Amtrak:     Acela Express      Adirondack      Cardinal      Carolinian      Crescent      Empire Service      Ethan Allen Express      Keystone Service      Lake Shore Limited      Maple Leaf      Pennsylvanian      Northeast Regional      Palmetto      Silver Meteor      Silver Star      Vermonter Long Island Rail Road:     Main Line (City Terminal Zone)      Port Washington Branch      Long Beach Branch      Port Jefferson Branch      Ronkonkoma Branch      Babylon Branch New Jersey Transit:     Northeast Corridor Line      North Jersey Coast Line      Montclair-Boonton Line      Morristown Line      Gladstone Branch
Connections	MTA NYC Bus: M4, M10, M16, M20, M34, Q32 MTA NYC Subway: 1 2 3, A C E MTA Bus: QM24 Atlantic Express: AE7, X23, X24 Megabus.com: M21, M22, M23, M24, M26 Greyhound Lines: BoltBus and NeOn New York Airport Service: Thruway Motorcoach service to airports
Baggage check	Available for Carolinian, Crescent, Lake Shore Limited, Northeast Regionals 66 and 67, Palmetto, Silver Meteor and Silver Star services
Other information
Opened	1910
Rebuilt	1964
Accessible
Code	NYP
Owned by	Amtrak
Traffic
Passengers (2007)	19.882 million ▲ 6% (NJT)
Passengers (2008)	8.739 million ▲ 8.2% (Amtrak)
Services
Preceding station   Amtrak   Following station Newark, NJ toward Washington, D.C. Acela Express Stamford toward Boston South Station Vermonter Stamford toward St. Albans Newark, NJ toward Newport News Northeast Regional New Rochelle toward Boston South Station or Springfield, MA Yonkers toward Montreal Adirondack Terminus Newark, NJ toward Chicago Cardinal Newark, NJ toward Charlotte Carolinian Newark, NJ toward New Orleans Crescent Yonkers toward Niagara Falls, NY Empire Service Yonkers toward Rutland Ethan Allen Express Newark, NJ toward Harrisburg Keystone Service Croton-Harmon toward Chicago Lake Shore Limited Yonkers toward Toronto Maple Leaf Newark, NJ toward Pittsburgh Pennsylvanian Newark, NJ toward Savannah Palmetto Newark, NJ toward Miami Silver Meteor Silver Star Preceding station   Long Island Rail Road   Following station Terminus Main Line (City Terminal Zone) Woodside toward Long Island Terminus Port Washington Branch Woodside toward Port Washington Preceding station   NJ Transit Rail   Following station Secaucus Junction toward Trenton Northeast Corridor Line Terminus Secaucus Junction toward Bay Head North Jersey Coast Line Secaucus Junction toward Hackettstown Montclair-Boonton Line Morristown Line Secaucus Junction toward Gladstone Gladstone Branch

Pennsylvania Station—commonly known as Penn Station—is the major intercity rail station and a major commuter rail hub in New York City. The station is located in the underground levels of Pennsylvania Plaza, an urban complex at 8th Avenue and 31st Street in Midtown Manhattan, and is owned by Amtrak. Serving 600,000 passengers a day (compared to 140,000 across town at Grand Central Terminal) at a rate of up to a thousand every 90 seconds,^[1] it is the busiest passenger transportation facility in the United States^[2] and by far the busiest train station in North America.^[3]

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, while commuter rail services are operated by the Long Island Rail Road and New Jersey Transit. The station is also connected to six New York City Subway lines.

Penn Station is the busiest Amtrak station in the United States. The station saw 4.3 million Amtrak boardings in 2004, more than double the traffic at the next busiest station, Union Station in Washington, D.C.^[4] Penn Station's assigned IATA airport code is ZYP.^[5] Its Amtrak and NJ Transit station code is NYP.

Services

Amtrak

Main article: Amtrak

• Acela Express to Boston, Providence, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington
• Adirondack to Montréal
• Cardinal to Philadelphia, Washington, Cincinnati, and Chicago
• Carolinian to Philadelphia, Washington, Richmond, Raleigh, and Charlotte
• Crescent to Philadelphia, Washington, Greensboro, Atlanta, and New Orleans
• Empire Service to Yonkers, Croton-Harmon, Poughkeepsie, Rhinecliff, Hudson, Albany, Schenectady, Amsterdam, Utica, Rome, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, and Niagara Falls
• Ethan Allen Express to Albany and Rutland
• Keystone Service to Philadelphia, Lancaster, and Harrisburg
• Lake Shore Limited to Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, Cleveland, Toledo, and Chicago
• Maple Leaf to Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, and Toronto
• Pennsylvanian to Philadelphia, Harrisburg, and Pittsburgh
• Northeast Regional to Boston, Providence, New Haven, Trenton, Philadelphia, Wilmington, Baltimore, Washington, Richmond, and Newport News
• Palmetto, Silver Meteor and Silver Star to Philadelphia, Washington, Savannah, Jacksonville, and Miami
• Vermonter to New Haven, Springfield, and St. Albans also 34,500,000 passengers come through Penn station in a day.

MTA

Main article: Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York)

• Long Island Rail Road (to Woodside station and points east)

• New York City Subway
  • From Penn Station:
    • A C E trains at 34th Street–Penn Station (IND Eighth Avenue Line) station
    • 1 2 3 trains at 34th Street–Penn Station (IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line) station
  • From Herald Square, one block east at Sixth Avenue:
    • N Q R W trains at 34th Street–Herald Square (BMT Broadway Line) station
    • B D F V trains at 34th Street–Herald Square (IND Sixth Avenue Line) station

• New York City Transit buses:
  • M10: To West 159th Street and Harlem River Drive in Washington Heights via Central Park West and Fredrick Douglass Boulevard
  • M16: To Port Authority Bus Terminal via Eighth Avenue or Waterside Plaza, Kips Bay via 34th Street
  • M20: To Lincoln Center via Eighth Avenue or Battery Park City via Seventh Avenue
  • M34: To Jacob K. Javits Convention Center or FDR Drive via 34th Street
  • Q32: To 81st Street and Northern Boulevard in Jackson Heights, Queens via Madison Avenue, Queensboro Bridge and Roosevelt Avenue

New Jersey Transit

Main article: New Jersey Transit

• Montclair-Boonton Line to Secaucus Junction, Newark (Broad Street) and Montclair State University, with connecting service to Boonton, Dover and Hackettstown
• Morris and Essex Lines to Secaucus Junction, Newark (Broad Street), Summit, Morristown/Dover and Gladstone
• Northeast Corridor Line to Secaucus Junction, Newark (Penn Station), Newark Airport, New Brunswick, Princeton Junction, and Trenton (connects to SEPTA trains bound for Philadelphia, and Trenton is across the street from River Line light rail that goes to Camden, New Jersey)
• North Jersey Coast Line to Secaucus Junction, Newark (Penn Station), Newark Airport, Perth Amboy, and Long Branch, with connecting service to Point Pleasant Beach and Bay Head

Passengers can transfer at Secaucus Junction to Main Line, Bergen County Line, and Pascack Valley Line trains.

Passengers can transfer at Newark (Penn Station) to Raritan Valley Line trains.

PATH

Main article: Port Authority Trans-Hudson

Port Authority Trans-Hudson (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.

History

Pennsylvania Station is named for the Pennsylvania Railroad (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 50's. 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 located 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.

Planning and construction

Until the early 20th century, PRR's rail network terminated on the western side of the Hudson 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 in the heart of Manhattan's business district.

To address its competitive disadvantage, the Pennsylvania Railroad considered building a rail bridge across the Hudson. This option was rejected when the other railroads using ferries across the Hudson River from New Jersey declined to participate jointly in a bridge project, which was required to obtain state approval.^[6]

View from the northeast, circa 1911. The sheer size of the structure in comparison to the surrounding buildings is notable. Very little of this scene survives in modern Manhattan.

The alternative was to tunnel under the river, but a tunnel's length would be difficult to ventilate and too long to be compatible with steam locomotives. Moreover, the New York state legislature had adopted legislation prohibiting operation of steam locomotives in Manhattan after July 1, 1908.^[7] The development of the electric locomotive at the turn of the 20th century, however, made feasible the construction of a tunnel for an electrified railroad. 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.^[6]

The tunnel technology was so new and innovative that in 1907 the PRR shipped an actual 23-foot (7.0 m) diameter section of the new East River Tunnel to the Jamestown Exposition near Norfolk, Virginia to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the founding of the Jamestown Settlement. 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 tunnel on October 9, 1906, and on the East River tunnel 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.^[8]

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 eight acres and was one of the first rail terminals to separate arriving from departing passengers on two different concourses.^[8]

Original structure (1910–1963)

Pennsylvania Station in 1962

The original structure was made of pink granite and was marked by an imposing, sober colonnade of corinthian columns arranged in Doric order. 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. It was immortalized in films (see link below). 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 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 seven acres, it was, said the Baltimore Sun in April, 2007, “As grand a corporate statement in stone, glass and sculpture as one could imagine”.^[9] 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”.^[10]

During the more than half-century timespan of the original station under owner Pennsylvania Railroad (1910-1963), hundreds 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 Railroads. 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 USRA, until the Pennsylvania Railroad terminated the B&O's access in 1926.^[11] 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 sprawling concourse in 1962 – demolition was two years away

The Pennsylvania Railroad began looking to divest itself of the cost of operation of the under-utilized 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.^[9]. As dismantling of the grand old structure began, The New York Times 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."^[12]

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 all of the Penn Station eagles 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.

Killer's Kiss a 1955 film noir co-written and directed by Stanley Kubrick features footage of the concourse and the exterior facade.

Demolition

After a renovation covered some of the grand columns with plastic and blocked off the spacious central hallway with a new ticket office, Lewis Mumford 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 of 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 the architect's model of the final plan for the Madison Square Garden Center complex, which would replace the original Pennsylvania Station.

Tracks leading to Penn Station from the west. The tracks to the right and left go to West Side Yard, and the center tracks go under the Hudson River into New Jersey.

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 prohibitively expensive. 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”.^[13] 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.^[14]

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 in the courtyard of the School of Engineering at The Cooper Union.^[15] 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 which was 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' 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.^[16]

Future

Departure board

Station concourse

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.

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, “Amtrak’s beleaguered customers…now scurry through underground rooms bereft of light or character”.^[17]

Hope for a grander railroad station lies one block west. Across Eighth Avenue from Penn Station sits New York’s General Post Office, the James Farley Post Office. 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 historic James A. Farley Building, a NY State and National Landmark, would be named Moynihan Station West, in honor of the late Senator.^[18]

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 local commuter passengers. Signs of construction appeared in November 2005, with plywood barriers installed on the sidewalks and orange nets covering main facade on 8th Avenue.^[19]

Northeast Corridor
Boston South Station Boston Back Bay Route 128 Providence Kingston Westerly Mystic New London Springfield Hartford New Haven Bridgeport Stamford New Rochelle New York City Newark, NJ Metropark Princeton Junction Trenton Philadephia Wilmington Baltimore BWI Airport New Carrollton Washington, D.C.

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.^[20][21] 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.^[22]

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 one million square feet 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”.^[17]

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.^[23][24]

A FAQ for New Jersey Transit’s “THE tunnel/ Access to the Region’s Core” suggests that Pennsylvania Station, Moynihan Station, and a proposed rail station under 34th street will be considered to be separate entities [2]. 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. [3].

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.”^[25]

See also

• Grand Central Terminal
• Hoboken Terminal
• James Farley Post Office
• Madison Square Garden
• Pennsylvania Railroad
• Pennsylvania Station (Newark)
• Pennsylvania Tunnel and Terminal Railroad
• Transportation in New York City

References

External links

• Diagram of New York Penn Station
• Newpennstation.org
• Amtrak - Stations - Pennsylvania Station

• Ridership figures, FY 2004
• Ridership figures, FY 2005
• Ridership figures, FY 2006
• Ridership figures, FY 2007
• Ridership figures, FY 2008

• Photos and commentary documenting the demolition, by Norman McGrath
• Pennsylvania Station immortalized by Hollywood
• Plans for the future Penn Station
• Newer plans for the future Penn Station
• Remnants of the old Penn Station
• American Society of Civil Engineers paper 1157: The New York tunnel extension of the Pennsylvania Railroad describes the construction of the tunnel to Penn Station.]
• 10/8/1904;Main Rotunda of the New Pennsylvania Station, New York City