NEW LOOK IS ON TRACK dfurfaro@nypost.com
Plan to ease crush at Penn Station
Relief is coming to the Long Island Rail Road — not more on-time trains, but a new opening to Penn Station.
In an election-season move, Gov. Cuomo announced Thursday the new entrance would be built at the southwest corner of West 33rd Street and Seventh Avenue and that West 33rd Street between Seventh and Eighth avenues would become a permanent pedestrian plaza.
Overcrowding has long plagued Penn Station entrances, which now carry triple the pedestrian traffic they did when built in the late 1960s, according to state officials.
“They were designed for a much smaller population,” said Cuomo. “We have doubled, sometimes tripled the population going through these facilities, and it just can’t manage it. It’s a commuter’s nightmare, and it’s also a safety concern.”
The plan also calls for new entrances to Amtrak and NJ Transit trains.
The MTA and Empire State Development Corp. are also working on rebuilding the LIRR concourse.
When it’s done, the hall will expand from 30 feet to 57 feet wide and the ceiling will be increased from about 10 to 18 feet high, officials said.
Cuomo’s office hosted a press tour Thursday morning, showing off continuing construction of the Moynihan Train Hall, a new transportation hub next to Penn Station that is being built on the site of the closed Farley Post Office.
The highlight of the tour was the steel shells of four massive skylights that will let natural light into the facility.
The skylights will have 755 glass panels, each weighing more than 150 pounds, contractors said.
Democratic primary opponent Cynthia Nixon slammed the events as dog-and-pony shows that ignore the failings of the MTA, which still has record delays on both the subways and LIRR. “While new entrances and color-coordinated tiles and countdown clocks are all nice, the governor has failed to place a real priority on the terrible quality of service,” Nixon said in a statement.
“The governor has shown time and time again that he has no interest in taking responsibility for the LIRR and MTA and instead prefers elaborate photo opportunities to generate headlines. ”
The Penn Station entrance and pedestrian plaza are expected to open in 2022, a year after the new Moynihan Train Hall is up and running.