(The following article by Joe Malinconico was posted on the Newark Star-Ledger website on November 22.)
NEWARK, N.J. — Over the years, commuters have done plenty of complaining about New York Penn Station.
They say the low ceilings and dim lighting make parts of the station feel cramped and dingy. Beyond the dreary surroundings, they also gripe about the cattle-call conditions that occur when they board or debark trains.
Even recent improvements, like the bright new Seventh Avenue Concourse that opened in 2002, have not addressed all the deficiencies, they say.
That’s why NJ Transit is willing to pay up to $4.8 million a year to become the primary railroad tenant at the new Moynihan train station proposed for the West Side of Manhattan, across Eighth Avenue from Penn Station.
The $818 million project, which would be built by New York’s Empire Development Commission at the Farley Post Office between 31st and 33rd streets, would include 850,000 square feet of offices, stores and restaurants, with a vaulted glass ceiling in the station’s main concourse.
Officials expect the new station to become NJ Transit’s version of Grand Central Station, the majestic building that handles rail traffic heading to Westchester and Connecticut. In a way, the station represents an attempt to recapture the grandeur that was lost when the original Penn Station, a beaux-arts building similar to the Farley Post Office, was demolished four decades ago.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create an anchor,” NJ Transit Executive Director George Warrington said. “We’re getting a foothold on the West Side of Manhattan 20 to 25 years in advance of the growth that’s envisioned there.”
In addition to the aesthetic improvements, the new station will offer practical benefits for the day-in, day-out grind of commuting by making it easier for passengers to get between street level and the train platforms.
Basically, the new and existing stations would connect to the same set of underground tracks and platforms. The rear of inbound trains would stop at the new station, while the front would be at the existing one.
Amtrak and Long Island Rail Road trains will also use the facility, but NJ Transit would be the main tenant.
By lengthening the platforms at the new station, railroad officials will provide riders with additional sets of stairs and escalators to get to street level. That would be a big improvement at rush hour when the crowds getting on and off trains routinely get jammed as commuters try to make their way through a handful of access points.
The Regional Plan Association, a watchdog group, has done a study showing that the delays would be cut by more than 30 percent.
By moving people from the platforms more quickly, officials said NJ Transit would be able to run its trains more frequently through the bustling station.
The project is supposed to be done by 2010. That’s about five years before the most optimistic projections for the opening of a second rail tunnel to Midtown Manhattan, a project that also will include a new station at 34th Street below Macy’s department store.
Officials said the Moynihan Station will help ease crowding conditions at New York Penn Station before the new station at 34th Street opens. Once the new tunnel is built, the Moynihan Station would help handle the extra rail traffic.
“Taken by itself, this has a lot of value, but you really have to look at the big picture here,” New Jersey Transportation Commissioner Jack Lettiere said. “This is something we need for (the new tunnel). You can’t have the tunnel without this.”