Gov rails, & unveils new Penn
CALLING PENN Station a “terrible” place that’s an “affront to riders,” Gov. Cuomo on Tuesday unveiled a $1.6 billion plan to transform the much-maligned train terminal into an airy transport hub with retail and office space.
Cuomo, speaking in Midtown at an Association for a Better New York breakfast, said the changes are needed because Penn Station is a disaster.
“It is dirty, it is dingy, it is dark . . . It’s the equivalent of the LaGuardia Airport, which has now become the national laughingstock,” said Cuomo, who is also revamping the aviation hub.
The new Penn Station, which will be dubbed the Moynihan Train Terminal and annex the old Farley Post Office behind the space, will be a whopping 250,000 square feet spanning Seventh to Ninth Aves.
That will make it 50% bigger than the present Penn and larger than Grand Central Terminal, which is 233,000 square feet.
The state has been trying to redo Penn Station — which at 650,000 riders a day serves more people than all three airports combined — for years with little luck.
The new plan includes the post office building housing both Amtrak and LIRR trains, as well as 112,000 square feet of retail space.