Rail thing
$1.6B Penn Station train hall a go, says Andy
IT’S FULL STEAM ahead for construction of a new $1.6 billion train hall next to Penn Station.
Gov. Cuomo on Thursday announced the start of “major construction” on the $1.6 billion project to convert the landmarked Farley Post Office building into a train hall.
“This is an exciting day indeed, and it was a long time coming,” Cuomo said during a ceremony inside the old post office.
The project, which has been in the works for decades, will create 700,000 square feet of retail, dining and office space in addition to 255,000 square feet for a train hall for Long Island Rail Road and Amtrak riders. It is expected to be completed by the end of 2020.
Cuomo was joined at the ceremony by Maura Moynihan, the daughter of the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan. It was Sen. Moynihan who first proposed a new Penn Station inside the Farley Post Office in 1993.
“On my father's deathbed I vowed that I would try to get this station built,” Maura Moynihan said. “I wouldn't believe it until I saw people with hard hats at the Farley Building.”
The new station will be named Moynihan Train Hall after the late senator.
Not everybody was as enthusiastic, however, as several protestors gathered outside the building saying taxpayer dollars should not be used to build what is essentially a “mall.”
The state is providing $550 million for the project and $420 million is coming from Amtrak, the MTA, the Port Authority and a federal grant. Another $630 million is coming from private developers.