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"This Is A Work Of Art": Cuomo Cuts Ribbon On Light-Filled Moynihan Train Hall
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Sophia Chang
Published Dec 30, 2020
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Sophia Chang
Published Dec 30, 2020
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Under a soaring vaulted skylight and a massive Art Deco clock, Governor Andrew Cuomo formally unveiled the new Moynihan Train Hall at Penn Station Wednesday with an official—and socially distanced—ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“This is a work of art that we don't build anymore. It's too breathtaking and ambitious to ask, 'Can we really do that?' Many doubters said it was too bold and audacious but we said we could,” Cuomo said at the ceremony. “This is a great public work. A different kind of statement that says we understand and appreciate the significance of public works.”
Train operations at the Moynihan Train Hall are expected to begin January 1st. The $1.6 billion project turns the century-old James A. Farley post office building into a transit hub, increasing Penn Station's size by 50%.
Penn Station's New Moynihan Train Hall
Jake Dobkin
Construction began in 2017 on the 255,000-square-foot train hall, named for New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who advocated for the project for years. The expansion plan was talked about for decades and derided as a "taxpayer-funded mall" that did little to address train service. In January, Cuomo unveiled a blueprint to add eight new tracks and increase Penn Station's capacity by 40% through acquiring an entire block south of the Midtown transit hub for a new terminal.
An acre of glass was used for the massive skylight in the new hall, which was designed to evoke the Beaux Arts grandeur of the old Pennsylvania Station, according to architect firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
The hall also makes use of its origins in the Farley post office, which was designed by McKim, Mead and White after they designed the original Pennsylvania Station in 1910. The striking steel trusses that make up the four vaults are original, where the mail police used to patrol to inspect the sorting floor below. Art installations from Kehinde Wiley and Elmgreen & Dragset pop up throughout the hall.
Penn Station's New Moynihan Train Hall
Jake Dobkin
Penn Station's New Moynihan Train Hall
Jake Dobkin
Hostile architecture shows up as well, with blue benches in the waiting rooms designed to deter sleeping people.
The new train hall is located across from Penn Station between Eighth and Ninth Avenues and West 31st and 33rd Streets and connects to the Long Island Rail Road and Amtrak platforms and tracks, as well as the subway. There will be a Starbucks:
With Annie Todd and Jake Dobkin
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moynihan train hall
Sophia Chang
Sophia Chang is a former WNYC and Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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