Latest World Trade Center PATH hub renderings

[Douglas John Bowen]

It's interesting to see the polite debate ensue about proper rail station architecture. Architecture counts. But to folks at NJ-ARP, the issue was, and to some degree still remains, where the station should be/should have been and what function it should have served.

To that end, the new station will be a nice upgrade, but its serviceability will, at best, be status quo ante and not a leap in passenger/customer convenience.

Is the Port Authority "wasting" money? That's debatable, as is seen here. Could it have done better with its dollars? NJ-ARP argues yes, it certainly could have.

[isaksenj]

Sorry, but I'm afraid the design is somewhere between "Stegosaurus in the Museum of Natural History" and "fish picked clean"!

The design brings to mind the reaction of Winston Churchill, who upon seeing a rather uncomplimentary oil portrait of himself for the first time, rather dryly and tactfully remarked it to be "an outstanding example of Modern Art" ;^>

[Luci S]

I just came to America. I was used to a subway that looks like you see in this picture. The worst stations look like Grove street or like those from Christopher St uptown.

When I got into NYC subway, it felt scary. I am riding the 2 daily and it is still disappointing that a station named Wall Street looks like a homeless shelter.

I also ride the PATH daily. In fact I rented something in JSQ just because PATH feels like home, not like prison. I know JSQ is not Exchange Place, but still I feel that in such a nice place with such a low littering compared to its neighbourhoods, nothing bad can happen. Those people wearing suits are not going to mug me.

Part of my daily commuting involves WTC PATH station. It plays an important role in making PATH looking not only bearable, but beatiful.
I noticed a long time ago that when walking on a street with red lights, one tends to be more alert, more tensed than when walking on a street with light-blue, nearly white, lights. This is just because it looks like daylight. Guess when you're going to feel most relaxed... on the real thing: under the sky, during the day light.

What I am trying to say is that a tall ceiling on a train station is not just a fancy architectural waste of money, it is also building a feeling of confidence in you and the other riders. This is not just "too huge", as some wrote. You're going to end up with a station for the next 100 years or maybe more, and PANYNJ should be careful to build something rational, not a new Octagon watch.

In fact, almost anyone else agrees that beauty counts and I just wanted to give the outlook from an outsider.
Still, I wonder how are they going to condition the air or to heat a large structure. Bucharest subway air was easy controllable, because the subway is quite deep under ground. On the other hand, that was a problem for those who made Notre Dame or Koln's Dome and it was solved, wasn't it?

[Irish Chieftain]

Don't forget the age of the PATH and the NYC subway systems, which exceeds that of the Metrorex system by about 75 to 80 years.

[Luci S]

I know, but now the new WTC station is just the new station, it is starting almost from scratch except for fitting with the end of the lines and with the new tower. It's exactly as it says on the PATH ads: a sad pretext for a beautiful rebuilding.
And anyway we don'y have to live like this for the next 200 years and we don't have to wait for a disaster in order to move forward.

[Irish Chieftain]

The "old" WTC station was approximately two decades old prior to 9/11, having been moved out of the old Hudson Terminal, which was/is one block east of the newer station.

[exnewyorker]

Whats going on about a PATH-Lex rail connection? I know that its solid granite under Fulton St. but its only a block and a half.

[exnewyorker]

OK,so its 2 blocks

[Irish Chieftain]

PANYNJ and the MTA are not supportive of that notion.

[VRELackie]

i can get you all the info you want on this station ... and the progress

the consulting firm that i work for has an architecture and planning division that is handling this project for PATH.

I have personally seen the artists renderings in our NY office