Major Construction to Begin on New Moynihan Train Hall

[Around the Horn]

 

Transforms James A. Farley Building into State-of-the-Art, 255,000 Square Foot Train Hall

The Transportation, Commercial and Retail Complex Will Also House 700,000 Square Feet of World-Class Space for Mixed-Use Development

$1.6 Billion Project Will Create Over 12,000 Construction Jobs and 2,500 Permanent Jobs 

Demolition of Original Sorting Room Floor Slab Five Months Early Allows for Major Construction to Begin

View Renderings of the New Moynihan Train Hall Here

View Video About the Project Here

 

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the start of major construction of the Moynihan Train Hall, a world-class transportation hub for the 21st century. The Farley Building redevelopment into the Moynihan Train Hall will create a new 255,000-square-foot Train Hall for Long Island Rail Road and Amtrak passengers and increase total concourse floor space in the Pennsylvania Station-Farley Complex by more than 50 percent. The Farley Building will also house 700,000 square feet of new commercial, retail and dining space within the mixed-use facility and create an iconic civic space for Manhattan's West Side.

"For decades, passengers were promised a world-class train hall worthy of New York - today, we are delivering on that promise and turning that dream into a reality," said Governor Cuomo. "We are transforming the Farley Post Office into a state-of-the-art transit hub to get travelers where they need to go faster and more comfortably. With better access to trains and subways, vibrant retail and business opportunities and stunning architectural design, we are bringing Penn Station into the 21st century."

 

The Governor also announced the completion of the first significant milestone in the construction of the transformative Penn-Farley Complex announced by the Governor in September 2016, as workers finished demolishing the former sorting room floor slab. This accomplishment - five months ahead of schedule - will enable Related Companies, Vornado Realty LP, and Skanska USA, the developer-builder team, to begin full construction of the train hall, including the one-acre skylight.

Since September 2016, significant progress has been made to prepare the James A. Farley Post Office building for this dramatic transformation. To date, Skanska has removed more than one acre of concrete and steel flooring to increase the vertical space underneath Moynihan Train Hall's future skylight. This process entailed the demolition of 6,000 tons of concrete and the removal of approximately 800 tons of steel, as well as an additional 400 tons of hazardous materials. Skanska has also made significant progress in the interior demolition of all five floors of the Farley Building.

The Farley Building was designed by McKim, Mead and White as a sister to their masterpiece - the original Pennsylvania Station. Five decades after the loss of the original structure, the Moynihan Train Hall will once again provide New Yorkers a grand entrance in a McKim, Mead and White architectural marvel. The Farley Building's train hall will bear the name of one of its great champions - the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan.

The Farley Building's Moynihan Train Hall will feature a new, spectacular 92-foot high skylight that will rest upon the building's historic and architecturally-dramatic steel trusses. All LIRR and Amtrak trains will be served by the nine platforms and 17 tracks that will be accessible from the Train Hall, serviced by eleven escalators and seven elevators. The Train Hall will provide a direct connection to the Eighth Avenue Subway and create direct access to the train station from 9th Avenue for the first time, bringing unparalleled regional transportation options within convenient reach of the booming Hudson Yards and Far West Side areas.

In addition to the demolition and removal of existing materials, work has begun on many new features of the Penn-Farley Complex, including:

• Restoration of the exterior façade on 31st Street and the interior courtyards;
• Creation of new openings to accommodate escalators carrying passengers to platform level;
• Shielding three of six underground train platforms for demolition and construction operations; and
• Installation of 100 tons of new steel.

The $1.6 billion project is being funded with $550 million from the State, $420 million from Amtrak, the MTA, the Port Authority and a federal grant, and $630 million from the joint venture developers. The new Train Hall is targeted for completion by the end of 2020.

The Moynihan Train Hall is part of the $2.5 billion transformation of the Pennsylvania Station-Farley Complex announced by Governor Cuomo in January 2016 to dramatically modernize, upgrade and redesign America's busiest transit hub into a world-class facility for the 21st century. The complex also includes a comprehensive redesign of the LIRR's existing 33rd Street concourse at Penn Station and an extensive renovation to the adjacent Seventh and Eighth Avenue subway stations. The plan will include nearly tripling the width of the 33rd Street Corridor, which is among the busiest sections of Penn Station and stretches along the station's lower level from Seventh to Eighth Avenue. Other improvements include upgraded lighting and wayfinding and digital screens to convey information and create a modern passenger experience.

https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-announces-major-construction-begin-new-grand-moynihan-train-hall

 

We also have some new renderings for the project:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[quadcorder]

They haven't contributed to funding it. Why do you think the WEC doesn't connect to tracks 1-4?

[RES2773]

Construction will probably be hell, but I already cannot wait for completion of this.

 

 

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[Union Tpke]

This will do NOTHING to solve capacity problems! It just provides a "beautiful" head house to make people not feel as bad about the delays. There won't be new tunnels under the Hudson unless funding is allocated, and the platforms will still be too narrow, requiring people to stand on line to get on their train–only after those on the train have left, further reducing capacity. The platforms should be widened by reducing the number of tracks, and Gateway should be completed without the garbage proposal that is Penn South. Any project that is aesthetic should also serve a functional purpose.

[MassTransitHonchkrow]

Construction will probably be hell, but I already cannot wait for completion of this.

 

 

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isn't everything?

This will do NOTHING to solve capacity problems! It just provides a "beautiful" head house to make people not feel as bad about the delays. There won't be new tunnels under the Hudson unless funding is allocated, and the platforms will still be too narrow, requiring people to stand on line to get on their train–only after those on the train have left, further reducing capacity. The platforms should be widened by reducing the number of tracks, and Gateway should be completed without the garbage proposal that is Penn South. Any project that is aesthetic should also serve a functional purpose.

Like using public money putting pretty lights on a bridge instead of creating a lighting system independent from the main power supply so it can be dedicated solely to CBTC expansion.

[Around the Horn]

This will do NOTHING to solve capacity problems! It just provides a "beautiful" head house to make people not feel as bad about the delays. There won't be new tunnels under the Hudson unless funding is allocated, and the platforms will still be too narrow, requiring people to stand on line to get on their train–only after those on the train have left, further reducing capacity. The platforms should be widened by reducing the number of tracks, and Gateway should be completed without the garbage proposal that is Penn South. Any project that is aesthetic should also serve a functional purpose.

Train capacity: no, but pedestrian capacity leaving and entering the station: yes.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

They're showing pictures of women eating at fancy-looking places but, how are they going to keep the homeless from destroying the place? Grand Central has a homeless problem that drives away customers at some retail places because they take over parts of the lower and upper concourse.

[Union Tpke]

Train capacity: no, but pedestrian capacity leaving and entering the station: yes.

 

Does it makes it easier to leave the labyrinth that is Penn? Sure. But it doesn't make it easier to leave the platforms. They will still be as narrow, and, as such, it will continue to delay train service. I do think that passengers should have a more comfortable, and more tolerable commute, but this should not come at the expense of, or be done in isolation of, real improvements that riders would rather have then aesthetic changes.

[quadcorder]

Does it makes it easier to leave the labyrinth that is Penn? Sure. But it doesn't make it easier to leave the platforms. They will still be as narrow, and, as such, it will continue to delay train service. I do think that passengers should have a more comfortable, and more tolerable commute, but this should not come at the expense of, or be done in isolation of, real improvements that riders would rather have then aesthetic changes.

However - the WEC increases the number of routes to and from individual platforms, and when Moynihan Hall opens it will increase the usage of those staircases by giving passengers a comfortable waiting space with access to those staircases, and by increasing awareness that they are an exit option. Without widening platforms, the easiest way to decrease platform crowding is to decrease the average distance walked on the platform by building and popularizing additional entrances/exits, which this accomplishes.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Does it makes it easier to leave the labyrinth that is Penn? Sure. But it doesn't make it easier to leave the platforms. They will still be as narrow, and, as such, it will continue to delay train service. I do think that passengers should have a more comfortable, and more tolerable commute, but this should not come at the expense of, or be done in isolation of, real improvements that riders would rather have then aesthetic changes.

I think you're confusing the two things. I believe the funding source for this project is a private-public partnership. Funding for the tunnels would likely have to be all public and federally sourced. Completely different animal.

[Union Tpke]

I think you're confusing the two things. I believe the funding source for this project is a private-public partnership. Funding for the tunnels would likely have to be all public and federally sourced. Completely different animal.

 

I am aware that the funding for the tunnel is different. The public funds here would be better spent on the tunnel or on widening platforms.

[Ian Lennon]

After the tradgedy across the street, it's better than nothing. 

[LGA Link N Train]

Does it makes it easier to leave the labyrinth that is Penn? Sure. But it doesn't make it easier to leave the platforms. They will still be as narrow, and, as such, it will continue to delay train service. I do think that passengers should have a more comfortable, and more tolerable commute, but this should not come at the expense of, or be done in isolation of, real improvements that riders would rather have then aesthetic changes.

Have you seen rethinkNYC.org, they (unlike our current agencies) actually have a beneficial plan that WILL HELP improve Penn Station

 

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[Via Garibaldi 8]

I am aware that the funding for the tunnel is different. The public funds here would be better spent on the tunnel or on widening platforms.

Both are needed. Penn Station is in a time warp. They can do this and work on getting the funding for tunnels in the interim.

[Around the Horn]

Have you seen rethinkNYC.org, they (unlike our current agencies) actually have a beneficial plan that WILL HELP improve Penn Station

 

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LMAO. Rethink is an absolute joke, which will never get off the ground.

 

Does it makes it easier to leave the labyrinth that is Penn? Sure. But it doesn't make it easier to leave the platforms. They will still be as narrow, and, as such, it will continue to delay train service. I do think that passengers should have a more comfortable, and more tolerable commute, but this should not come at the expense of, or be done in isolation of, real improvements that riders would rather have then aesthetic changes.

 

Except it does, by doubling and in some cases, tripling, the number of entrances and exits to the platforms. That will definitely make a difference, particularly for the LIRR trains and Acelas.

[Union Tpke]

Have you seen rethinkNYC.org, they (unlike our current agencies) actually have a beneficial plan that WILL HELP improve Penn Station

 

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I went to Cooper Union when they announced the plan. Some parts are great, while some parts are very, very flawed.

[Deucey]

Maybe I'm missing something about the benefits of this. Do the platforms already extend under the post office?

[LGA Link N Train]

I went to Cooper Union when they announced the plan. Some parts are great, while some parts are very, very flawed.

Like their LGA AirTrain

 

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[quadcorder]

Maybe I'm missing something about the benefits of this. Do the platforms already extend under the post office?

Yes they do. The the biggest benefits to me are less congestion entering and exiting platforms and more pleasant waiting areas, as well as the opportunity to close and renovate some heavily used spaces in the current Penn Station (such as the proposed widening of the LIRR concourse).

[RR503]

Interesting article on the interaction between this project and regular maintenance. Is Prince Andrew’s edifice complex to blame here too?

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/10/09/nyregion/amtrak-penn-station-derailments.html?emc=edit_nn_20171009&nl=morning-briefing&nlid=82498361&te=1&_r=0&referer=

[46Dover]

On 8/18/2017 at 7:13 PM, Union Tpke said:

This will do NOTHING to solve capacity problems! It just provides a "beautiful" head house to make people not feel as bad about the delays. There won't be new tunnels under the Hudson unless funding is allocated, and the platforms will still be too narrow, requiring people to stand on line to get on their train–only after those on the train have left, further reducing capacity. The platforms should be widened by reducing the number of tracks, and Gateway should be completed without the garbage proposal that is Penn South. Any project that is aesthetic should also serve a functional purpose.

Don't you know by now?  That's the Cuomo way of doing things

[CenSin]

On 8/19/2017 at 7:48 PM, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

They're showing pictures of women eating at fancy-looking places but, how are they going to keep the homeless from destroying the place? Grand Central has a homeless problem that drives away customers at some retail places because they take over parts of the lower and upper concourse.

Perhaps the 2,500 permanent jobs mentioned in the article are for keeping the homeless out and shining the interior. /s

[bobtehpanda]

On 8/18/2017 at 7:58 PM, Around the Horn said:

Train capacity: no, but pedestrian capacity leaving and entering the station: yes.

Doubtful, since none of this new capacity connects passengers to where they actually want to go (namely, and  )

[Italianstallion]

On 8/19/2017 at 7:48 PM, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

They're showing pictures of women eating at fancy-looking places but, how are they going to keep the homeless from destroying the place? Grand Central has a homeless problem that drives away customers at some retail places because they take over parts of the lower and upper concourse.

Really? I've never seen that.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

38 minutes ago, Italianstallion said:

Really? I've never seen that.

You don't commute into Grand Central like I do. I've seen a bit of everything.