New York Penn Station turns 100

m11stephen wrote:So basically all the above street level portions of the building were "cut" off and demolished? I'm pretty sure that something similar happened when the concourse at Union Station was demolished in 1969. From the few demolition pictures of seen of the original Penn Station I find it fascinating that it was still in operable condition during demolition.

Correct. In fact, at the platform level it still "is" Old Penn. The stairs and railings leading up from track level are still the original equipment from 1910.

The Post office also maintains at least two other full city block sized buildings on 9 ave and 30th st. The Farley building, especially the front part is mostly empty space. The post office moved their main sorting facility to Newark across the river.
Does anyone know if they are planning a complete renaming of Penn station to Moynihan Station or are they planning on just naming the building like Secaucus Junction? My hope is that they don't finish the debauchery started in the 60's and do that. While I understand the need to honor Sen. Moynihan, I think a complete renaming is not necessary and would destroy 100 years of history.

peterde wrote:The Post office also maintains at least two other full city block sized buildings on 9 ave and 30th st. The Farley building, especially the front part is mostly empty space. The post office moved their main sorting facility to Newark across the river.
Does anyone know if they are planning a complete renaming of Penn station to Moynihan Station or are they planning on just naming the building like Secaucus Junction? My hope is that they don't finish the debauchery started in the 60's and do that. While I understand the need to honor Sen. Moynihan, I think a complete renaming is not necessary and would destroy 100 years of history.

Speaking as a NYC resident I can assure you that even if they *tried* to change the name everyone would still call it "Penn" anyway-- 6th Ave. was officially named "Avenue of the Americas" in about 1939 yet if you actually call it that you will get a blank stare from most.

Right--look at an NYCTA subway map and you may search in vain for the Avenue of the Americas Subway (and that's an official map). In 1984, when the commuter tunnel opened in Philadelphia, SEPTA (since they were issuing all new timetables anyway) changed Suburban Station to Penn Center, to fit in with the geographical names of Market East and 30th St. Nobody took the slightest notice, and some years later it reverted to being Suburban Station.

peterde wrote: My hope is that they don't finish the debauchery started in the 60's and do that. While I understand the need to honor Sen. Moynihan, I think a complete renaming is not necessary and would destroy 100 years of history.

IMHO, I think that all the history was destroyed in the 60s.

george matthews wrote:
You are dreaming of the new Antwerp station, with three levels of tracks. The lowest is the new High Speed line from Brussels to Amsterdam. The top is ordinary medium distance trains, mostly with in Belgium.

Isn't Berlin's Central Station similar? (Two levels anyway)

Don31 wrote:

george matthews wrote:
You are dreaming of the new Antwerp station, with three levels of tracks. The lowest is the new High Speed line from Brussels to Amsterdam. The top is ordinary medium distance trains, mostly with in Belgium.

Isn't Berlin's Central Station similar? (Two levels anyway)

Yes, the new Hauptbahnhof shows what can be done if you spend enough money. A new station for New York would also cost a lot but it could be done. It would be a better result than patching up the present station, and be worthy of one of the world's great cities. Of course Berlin receives more trains than New York, from more directions, north, south, east and west.

Berlin's new station was mainly a statement of the reunification of Germany, and of course Berlin had large amounts of land left over from the second world war. The rebuilding of Antwerp was mainly about the High Speed Line from Brussels and London to Amsterdam and took place within the site of the old station.

IMO, no senator deserves to have Penn Station renamed for them, period.

Should be named after Alexander Cassatt

Station Aficionado wrote:An excellent history of the conception, design and building of Penn Station and all the associated infrastructure came out three years ago: Conquering Gotham (Viking, 2007), by Jill Jonnes.

Seconded! The only flaw to me was you must know NYC neighborhoods or keep a map handy to follow the story.

Saved NY Penn Station Artifact !!

Not many people know that located at the Whippany Railway Museum in Whippany NJ the musem has (on outside display) one of the origional
NY Penn Station Track Indicators. This indicator once stood over 15' high..........scrappers cut the mast section down to about 7'. This indicator was removed (saved by former Morris County Central Railroad employees) from a NJ landfill in the 60's when the building was being demolished.

You can view a photo on the museums web site......... http://www.whippanyrailwaymuseum.net

Just click on "Exhibits" at the WRyM web site to view the NY Penn Station Track Indicator...............about 2/3 way down the page.