6.2.22 - We can’t miss our moment to fix Penn Station
'New York is, by all measures, the greatest city in the world. You can start your day with the best dim sum you’ve ever had in Flushing and end it with Sunday gravy on Arthur Ave. Or hit the Met, the Guggenheim and the 92nd Street Y without even walking a mile. And it’s the only place where a lifelong resident can have a hard time telling whether they’re walking into the largest transit hub in the Western Hemisphere — Penn Station — or a Sbarro. It’s true: Penn Station is unique, but for all the wrong reasons. That’s a real disservice to New York, and to all the New Yorkers who pass through it each day and deserve better.
Instead of the soaring skylights at Moynihan Train Hall or Grand Central’s iconic Great Hall, Penn travelers are greeted by a dizzying warren of dingy passageways and too-low ceilings. The status quo just doesn’t cut it. Not for the hundreds of thousands of regular New Yorkers who rely on Penn Station every day, nor for all the commuters, tourists and day-trippers who inevitably start their visit on a sour note.
Fortunately, we have a window of opportunity not just to make incremental changes, but to actually reimagine Penn Station from top to bottom, inside and out.
In her first months in office, Gov. Hochul unveiled a transformative plan to give New Yorkers the Penn Station they deserve while laying the groundwork for sustainable, transit-oriented growth in the area. It starts with a blueprint for Penn Station that rights the wrongs of its current design, replacing the multi-level labyrinth with a single-level main concourse flush with natural light. Greatly expanded circulation areas with intuitive wayfinding will help you get from point A to B faster, without the mass confusion that predominates today.
The improvements will extend beyond the walls of the station and into the surrounding neighborhood, giving New Yorkers one of the city’s most prized commodities: public space that is designed with people in mind. The vision prioritizes pedestrians and cyclists over vehicles through reclaimed shared streets, new plazas, protected bike lanes and expanded sidewalks. In the backdrop, new, privately funded developments will revitalize the area’s aging commercial office stock, enliven the streetscape and add quality housing to the neighborhood — including hundreds of permanently affordable units.'
Read Full NY Daily News Op Ed Here