The plan for a new NYC train station. (For real this time. Probably.)
Earlier this year Andrew Cuomo floated the latest plan for building a new train station in New York City to replace the outdated and much-unloved Penn Station. The broad outline of the project included the long-planned conversion of the huge post office building across the street from Penn Station.
Now there are more specific details: On Tuesday Andrew Cuomo revealed a timeline for the project, showed more renderings, and said the project will build a "world class" train station.
Albany to Penn Station
This is of interest here, of course, because NYP is by far the most popular destination from Albany-Rensselaer. And Albany-Rensselaer is one of the nation's 9th busiest train station, with more than 825,000 "on offs" each year.
Renderings
If you just want to skip to the renderings, they're at the top of the page in large format -- click or scroll all the way up.
Moynihan Train Hall
The post office complex across 8th Avenue from Penn Station is the Farley Building. And the space carved out of it for a new train station will be called Moynihan Train Hall. (Former New York US Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan proposed the trains-at-Farley idea decades ago, and there was a plan dating back as far as 10 years ago for the construction of a "Moynihan Station" on the site.)
From the Cuomo admin press release:
The Moynihan Train Hall will include shops and restaurants located under a new skylight on the building's historic and architecturally dramatic steel trusses. The building will increase floor space 50 percent from Penn Station, and service riders on the LIRR, Amtrak and eventually accommodate passengers from Metro-North. A total of nine platforms and 17 tracks will be accessible from the Train Hall.
In addition to the Train Hall, RVS will redevelop the entire Farley Post Office Building to include approximately 700,000 square feet of office and retail space which will result in the creation of thousands of new construction and permanent jobs.
There will be an underground concourse connecting the train hall to Penn Station.
The Cuomo admin says train hall project will be about $1.6 billion and a development team -- Related Companies, Vornado Realty LP, and Skanska AB -- has been selected. About $600 million is coming from the developers for the rights redevelop the Farley Building, $570 million from Empire State Development, and $425 million from Amtrak, Long Island Rail Road, Port Authority, and the feds.
Andrew Cuomo said the project is set for completion by the end of 2020.
Penn Station
The overall project also includes the refurbishment and redevelopment of Penn Station. Blurbage:
A dramatic redesign of the LIRR portions of Penn Station will significantly improve passenger experience and circulation. The plan will include nearly tripling the width of the 33rd Street Corridor, which is among the busiest sections of Penn Station and stretches along the station's lower level from Seventh to Eighth Avenue. Other improvements will include upgraded lighting and wayfinding, and digital screens to convey information and create a modern passenger experience. It is anticipated that the majority of the corridor improvements will be completed simultaneous to the Train Hall's opening, with other elements completed sooner. Construction of the new LIRR corridor will cost an estimated $170 million.
Also: The new LIRR concourse will have an LED screen ceiling that "will appear as a blue sky with clouds." As Cuomo said in his presentation Tuesday: "It really gives you a sense of openness as opposed to being closed in."
Empire State Station?
Back in January when Andrew Cuomo floated this latest iteration of the plan, the new complex was tagged as "Empire State Station." That name wasn't mentioned in the materials released this week. Instead it was referred to as the "Pennsylvania Station-Farley Complex."
Presentation
Because you can't have a major infrastructure project without powerpoint, here's Andrew Cuomo's slide deck from Tuesday. It includes a few other bits if you're curious.
Cuomo Admin Penn Farley Plan 2016-09-27 by alloveralbany on Scribd
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Comments
Oh we're getting a train station in NYC. Now all we need is a decent train service and we're all set.
... said Dingdong on Sep 27, 2016 at 8:14 PM | link
As a recent capital region transplant and former long time NJ transit train rider from Penn station, if these renders are any indication of the design direction they want to go in, it will be a complete disaster. One of the main problems right now with Penn station (besides the fact that its falling apart) are the choke points, where people will crowd and there is barely breathing room when boarding/unboarding a train. If the pictures are really how they plan to build entrances to the terminals then you're just making that problem even worse by putting that overcrowding smack in the middle of the walkways.
... said David on Sep 28, 2016 at 9:02 AM | link
Can they please include some updated trains too?
... said J on Sep 28, 2016 at 9:32 AM | link
I find the idea that some of the best intercity train service in the country isn't good enough to be quite amusing, though sadly expected from the Capital Region's compulsive whiners.
The only critique that immediately comes to mind: Does it really need screens to display a sky? New York is partly a city of tunnels, so what's the problem with a tunnel?
... said JayK on Sep 28, 2016 at 9:54 AM | link
I agree with JayK on the LED sky thing - New Yorkers are used to travelling underground. Why bother with a huge, expensive, fake sky? If anything, just paint the ceiling light blue and uplight it.
A LED sky is going to look horrible in time: Big LED screens are made up of smaller panels. There will be panels that die in time, making holes in the sky, and then panels that will be brighter than others once pieces are replaced. It's not so noticeable on a jumbotron playing moving video, but on a mostly-static image of sky, it will eventually look like garbage.
... said Paul on Sep 29, 2016 at 1:47 PM | link
Looks great to me! Cool design choice in the glass arches, that reminds me of the Beaux Arts style of Gare d'Orsay in Paris.
If you've been in Penn Station, you'll surely notice that it is labyrinthine and cramped. The presentation notes that it now serves triple its design capacity. The wider corridors, increased square footage, glass ceiling, and even the Blade Runner-esque LED monitor ceilings should all help.
I'm surprised that people complain about the best public transportation system in the country, I love NY trains.
... said Sean on Sep 29, 2016 at 2:38 PM | link