Amtrak to re-name 30th St Station

It's a waste of money that Amtrak doesn't have.

Might have PRR borrowed from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation - Hoover's "too little too late" Depression program - to build 30th St?

Enquiring mind wants to know.

cr9617 » Sun Oct 01, 2017 7:29 am

It's a waste of money that Amtrak doesn't have.

Exactly! Signage, advertising, timetables, website edits, etc. All to glorify a creature whose purpose in life (politician) is to relieve the taxpayer of their assets.

MACTRAXX wrote:In the case of the Triboro, Queensborough and Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel they were renamed to
ADD the names of Robert F. Kennedy, Edward I. Koch and Hugh L. Carey to the name titles

In the case of the RFK Bridge, it seems someone forgot to notify the sign maker. New signs make no mention of the Triboro Bridge—other than the one that states, "Triboro Br HAS BEEN RENAMED RFK Br."

SouthernRailway wrote:The Koch Queensboro Bridge is too long of a name.

Even more so when Mayor Koch's first name is prepended to it.

Off Topic as this is highway related.

Funny how the NYMTA stopped naming their NY area bridges with the RFK Tri-borough. How about more confusion volks, and name the Whitestone and Throgs Neck?

Dare they rename the Verrazano to the Verrazzano?

Oh well, at least the NYCDOT "drew the line" and (to date) has not renamed the Brooklyn Bridge for some "pol" - how would the "Shelly Silver Brooklyn Bridge" sound?

TomNelligan wrote: ... At least the proposal doesn't involve pimping out the property with an unrelated corporate name that will change every couple years, like the current practice with sports venues (or SEPTA's "AT&T Station" and "Jefferson Station").

From that phillyvoice.com link above: "Proponents of the change point to Gray's role in bringing infrastructure improvements to the station and helping to boost federal funding for Amtrak after the railroad passenger service had its budget slashed in the 1980s."

So there is some connection between his political record and the station.

But, yes, it's probably a black thing. Recently Philadelphia unveiled its first public statue of a black man (one who agitated to desegregate Philly's street cars in the 1880s). Some troublemaker counted up all the statues in the City of Brotherly Love, well over 1,000 !, and found no love for statues of blacks. Not even one. Until this year.

Hope they erect a handsome statue of William Gray III at the station to be named for him, so that will make two. And everybody can keep calling it 30th St Station.

I'm pretty impressed that 25+ years since the Congressman was in office people are still trying to recognize him and memorialize his legacy to the traveling public. The cheap shots are always easy when it comes to pols. Plenty of them truly deserve some of the comments in this thread. But I have had too much experience in politics to really believe that elected public servants are always "out for themselves". As far as race goes in this issue I think that the Congressman represented his district in many respects to include his own personal story and identity. Seems perfectly normal to me.

Ha come to Chicago. We still use all the old names for buildings here. Sears Tower, Northwestern Station, Ravenswood L... WTF is the Willis tower?

SouthernRailway wrote:Yes, the PRR built 30th Street Station but now it is at least partially supported by tax dollars, and subject to enough government control that the government can try to rename it.

The Koch Queensboro Bridge is too long of a name. Queensboro Bridge suffices. If people are generally supportive of having public assets named after politicians, then be prepared for major landmarks named after Trump, Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, etc. I'm not taking partisan positions here but am just pointing out that naming things after politicians will lead to things named after people who are loathed by large parts of the population.

the government is supposed to work for the people and the people did not ask for it to be arbitrarily renamed with no public discussion. the man who spearheaded the effort to rename it is no longer in power. the bill should be reversed
http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/13/politics/ ... index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; we don't need some milktoast scrantonian grandstanding in philadelphia.

South Station in Boston was renamed The Governor Michael S. Dukakis Transportation Center at South Station in 2014. Dukakis himself opposed its renaming, and I've never heard anyone refer to it as such.

While I hate when this happens to classic sports stadiums, they might as well rename it "Verizon Station" or "Comcast Station" or something like that if they're going to rename it. At least they'd get some much needed revenue. Revenue that should be earmarked for infrastructure improvements, and not executive compensation. Probably could negotiate a couple million a year for that sponsorship considering all of the people that go in and out of these facilities a day.

Tadman wrote:Ha come to Chicago. We still use all the old names for buildings here. Sears Tower, Northwestern Station, Ravenswood L... WTF is the Willis tower?

Not quite, Mr. Dunville.

Last week, when walking from Clinton St CTA Blue to CUS (Poor man's way from O'Hare), I was accompanied by a very nice gal in her (guess) 40's. She was going to "Ogilvie". I said "North Western Station?". That drew a blank. To which I said "Dear, that's what I knew it as...." and that is how a great travel vignette ended.

If sportscasters weren't held "on the pain of discipline" to refer to a baseball park on the near South Side as "Guaranteed Rate Field", what would they call it; Comiskey Park?

We've come to a point in our culture, where it is the rule and not exception that public venues will be named for a luminary person or product, be such held in fame or infamy.

Hawaiitiki wrote:While I hate when this happens to classic sports stadiums, they might as well rename it "Verizon Station" or "Comcast Station" or something like that if they're going to rename it. At least they'd get some much needed revenue. Revenue that should be earmarked for infrastructure improvements, and not executive compensation. Probably could negotiate a couple million a year for that sponsorship considering all of the people that go in and out of these facilities a day.

Well, speaking of that, and keeping in mind the timeframe in which this bill was passed, this is not the first station in Philadelphia to be renamed recently.

viewtopic.php?f=72&t=157274" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Kilo Echo wrote:

MACTRAXX wrote:In the case of the Triboro, Queensborough and Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel they were renamed to
ADD the names of Robert F. Kennedy, Edward I. Koch and Hugh L. Carey to the name titles

In the case of the RFK Bridge, it seems someone forgot to notify the sign maker. New signs make no mention of the Triboro Bridge—other than the one that states, "Triboro Br HAS BEEN RENAMED RFK Br."

SouthernRailway wrote:The Koch Queensboro Bridge is too long of a name.

Even more so when Mayor Koch's first name is prepended to it.

New Yorkers being New Yorkers, I think people say "RFK" mainly because it's quicker than saying "Triboro." Never heard anyone call it the Carey tunnel... just like I've never heard anyone actually from New York refer to "Avenue of the Americas." And most people I know don't call it the Queensboro with or without Ed Koch's name; they call it the "59th Street Bridge."

Whatever Amtrak tries to call it, everyone will still refer to it as 30th Street. Heck, the station out in the Meadowlands was named "Lautenberg Station" from Day 1 but nobody refers to it as anything other than Secaucus Junction.

NealG wrote:South Station in Boston was renamed The Governor Michael S. Dukakis Transportation Center at South Station in 2014. Dukakis himself opposed its renaming, and I've never heard anyone refer to it as such.

OMG nothing like a good transportation center...

Pop quiz: You have a bus station, a train station, and a food court. What is it called? Evidently a transportation center, despite the fact it's really just a station. Maybe a terminal. Could be a Union Station given multiple carriers or modes. But a "transportation center" is just 80's MBA-speak because at that time, Union Stations were ratty old places. mmmkay.... that's long past, we can stop using a forgettable term. (nothing against the member NealG, just highlighting something that is silly)