8/17/2023 0 Comments Old penn station![]() ![]() In April of 2013 the MASNYC called for some of the nation's top architectural design firms to put out their visions of a newly designed Penn Station. The station is so space-constrained that it struggles to accommodate passenger traffic from the rail systems that currently use it or absorb future passenger growth and new services such as high-speed rail. Yet its location beneath Madison Square Garden means it would be nearly impossible to bring substantial light, air and space into the existing facility. Penn Station’s problems aren’t only aesthetic. ![]() According to the Municipal Arts Society of New York: Penn Station can’t be moved, because it is linked to a vast network of tracks and other infrastructure that run below the station. Since Penn Station is anchored to its current location, upgrades need to be made where it is so the station can meet the needs of future train travel. Most of the station's remains were dumped in the New Jersey Meadowlands where it was used as swamp filler for an industrial park.Īnyone who travels to and from New York by rail knows that the current Penn Station is not equipped to accommodate the 600,000 commuters who flow through its cramped tunnels everyday. After a three year demolition, Penn Station was cut down to 3/4 its size and forced completely underground. By the early 1960's plans were announced to build a modern office building, Penn Plaza, and sports arena, Madison Square Garden. It was described by historian Jill Jonnes as "a great Doric temple to transportation." Covering over 7 acres of land, it was the largest indoor space in New York City and one of the largest indoor public areas in the world.Īs the Interstate Highway System took hold and a litany of financial troubles plagued the Pennsylvania Railroad it became necessary for the company to sell Penn Station's air rights in the 1950's. Completed in 1910 by McKim, Mead and White, Penn Station was modeled after some of history's greatest structures including the Roman Baths of Caracalla and Berlin's Brandenburg Gates. It was a station that dwarfed any other in the world. For nearly fifty-three years it was an awe-inspiring example of Beaux-Arts architecture defined by its majestic Main Waiting Room and stunning glass-roofed train shed. ![]() Here now, what the pretty station looked like before the wrecking ball descended.Most people don't realize that New York's Pennsylvania Station wasn't always the subterranean labyrinth of cramped tunnels that we know today. While the site’s future remains uncertain-could we feasibly see a bonkers starchitect-designed railway station in our lifetimes?-the past is, sadly, a done deal. Below, you’ll also find a handful of photos of Penn when it was still gloriously intact, which kinda intensifies the grief a little. The extensive demolition porn of yore comes to you courtesy of the Museum of the City of New York’s wonderfully extensive photo archives. After all, it was the painful ripping apart of the soaring archways, domed ceilings, handsome columns, and more that lit a fire under the arse of the coalition that eventually made New York’s landmarks law a reality. To honor the day, Atlantic Cities rounded up some beautiful photos of the transit hub in its prime, but Curbed has opted to immerse us all in sad images of the de-construction process, as plans for Madison Square Garden loomed ahead. & amp amp amp amp lt div& amp amp amp amp gt & amp amp amp amp lt a href=””& amp amp amp amp gt & amp amp amp amp lt img src=”” width=”500″ height=”346″& amp amp amp amp gt & amp amp amp amp lt /a& amp amp amp amp gt & amp amp amp amp lt br /& amp amp amp amp gt & amp amp amp amp lt a href=”” style=”font-size: 9px text-align: center ”& amp amp amp amp gt Click here to view the full photogallery.& amp amp amp amp lt /a& amp amp amp amp gt & amp amp amp amp lt /div& amp amp amp amp gt It was 50 years ago today that demolition began on the New York icon that evokes intense nostalgia and mourning even today: the old Pennsylvania Station. ![]()
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