Amtrak/LIRR Moynihan Train Hall

The existing west end concourse for the LIRR is blocked off and lots of jack-hammering was apparent as I went by this morning.

bleet wrote:The existing west end concourse for the LIRR is blocked off and lots of jack-hammering was apparent as I went by this morning.

Its only closed 10am-3pm for construction. The rest of the time the west end is open for commuters, in a barren construction like mess but usable albeit cramped

What has happened to the proposal to use the old post office building?

Governor Cuomo pushes for Penn Station renovation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/07/nyreg ... ffice.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The governor’s initiative in Manhattan involves projects on both sides of Eighth Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, where Madison Square Garden sits atop the warren of narrow and confusing passageways in Penn Station.

Mr. Cuomo said the state, along with Amtrak and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, would solicit proposals from developers whose options would include the creation of a grand glass-walled entrance to Penn Station on Eighth Avenue.

The project could entail razing the 5,600-seat theater that sits beneath Madison Square Garden, upgrading the shops in the complex, and adding new entrances on Seventh Avenue or 33rd Street.

Developers would undertake the project, Mr. Cuomo said, in return for the rights to control all the retail shops in Penn Station.

Simultaneously, the state and its partners will solicit a developer for the long-gestating plan to turn the nearly vacant James A. Farley Post Office into a train station and a giant waiting room for Amtrak passengers, as well as shops and office space.

David Benton wrote:What has happened to the proposal to use the old post office building?

That is the old Post Office Bldg in the rendering. In a nice touch, they carefully lettered in words inscribed above the grand stairs and collonnade:

Neither rain nor snow nor heat nor gloom of night shall stay these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds

Anyway, some of the building is becoming part of the Penn Station complex. How it will all turn out is still to be determined.

Some more pictures in this article:
http://www.techinsider.io/new-york-city ... =buffer-ti" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If NYP looked like that - it would be fabulous. Wow.

Yeah, it would be. A slight nitpick is the use of the "Penn" abbreviation in the actual formal sign, though: if they don't stick a new name on the rebuilt station, then it's still Pennsylvania Station formally, and that ought to be on the exterior.

Something about "Empire Station Complex" or even "Empire Station" also doesn't sit right in my head, but I can't quite put my finger on what.

Lipstick on a pig.

Well, the good news is they will extend the reach of the Empire Connection as part of the project. I believe it will reach to track 14.

Still, a new tent on the same circus.

Any plan that does not remove Madison Square Garden and improve the track layout and platform configuration is, from a transit perspective, DOA - spending a lot of money for not enough nresults.

ThirdRail7 wrote:Still, a new tent on the same circus.

Seems to me it is fairer to say this is 3 new tents (Amtrak, LIRR, NJT) on the same circus.

What would constitute a new circus and what would justify its expense? Aren't signals and through-running the better value-for-money at track level?

ThirdRail7 wrote:Well, the good news is they will extend the reach of the Empire Connection as part of the project. I believe it will reach to track 14.

Still, a new tent on the same circus.

Does that really buy much though?

I mean it's not like the Empire Connection has so many trains that the current number of tracks is a real hinderance, is it?

Or is this for the addition of Metro North trains?

The Gov's presentation has some nice things that the media went over too quickly, like closing 33rd Street. It talks about better hudson valley access and MNRR Bronx but never, explicitly, connects the two.

Greg Moore wrote:is this for the addition of Metro North trains?

I assume that's it: West Side Access: Thru-run Penn Station access from MNRR Coop City to Penn using LIRR space freed up by East Side Access, and then upgrade Empire Connection for "Upper West Side" and "W 125th St" stations and then to Spuyten Duyvil. Optional thru-running U route within NYC boundaries.

A couple of reactions:

I would hope that NJ Transit would be brought into the process too since you can't fix what's wrong with Penn Station without including that half of the station. Which leads me to wonder why if you are closing 33rd street you wouldn't close 31st street too and do the same kind of passage way on both sides. In fact there already is a LIRR concourse on the 33rd street side, but not one on the NJT side.

Also, this ignores Amtrak's plan to build a Penn Station south station...so how does that get worked in?

I like the idea of opening up the 8th Ave side of the station but other than that I don't see anything that actually will make a tremendous difference. On the other hand I give Cuomo credit for trying to make something happen.