I always think of Penn Station as the Edith Keeler [0] of buildings. It had to die. Nationally, Penn Station is worth more as it is now than it ever would have been worth in its original state. I have even (only half-jokingly) mused that it should be landmarked as-is as a cautionary tale.
That's what I like about this plan. It takes the evil Madison Square Garden and saves it rather than just tearing it down as Penn Station was. The plan does something new rather than just trying to re-create the old Penn Station.
>the demolition of Penn Station kicked off the historic preservation movement
That's the retconned mythology. Based on what I've read, it's not clear how true it is.
It's probably also worth noting that Penn Station had been decaying for years and, with the bankruptcy of Penn Central because of a long-term decline in rail traffic, it's not clear what the mechanism to save Penn Station would have been at the time.
I don't disagree it's a pity--especially given how generally uninspired that whole area of Midtown is. But the NYC of fifty years ago was a very different place.
The same mechanism that saved Grand Central a decade later - legal intervention. The situation was pretty much the same. A bankrupt railroad wanted to demolish a beautiful landmark to make money.
Fair enough. I actually hadn't realized that they were both Penn Central stations. (I assume that at some point they were terminals for two different railroads--hence the lack of decent connections between them just like Boston.)
They were from two different railroads. Pennsylvania Station was from the Pennsylvania Railroad, Grand Central from the New York Central. They merged in 1968 to try and save both of railroads but it ended up not helping.
The creation of the PennCentral was probably the most ill thought out merger in US history - but the regulation climate at the time wouldnt have allowed them to seek out a more rational merger partner (like an end to end merger with the likes of the CB&Q or GN) - also mergers took forever because of ICC forbearance - which mean the merger took 6-7 years to complete, and the perennially bankrupt New Haven was shotgunned in at the last moment - In short, failure was all but a foregone conclusion - but given the nature of the market that the time, there was but little choice to proceed.
The railroads are an example of how excessive regulation can almost kill an industry - even the UP came mighty close to bankruptcy before deregulation.
I knew that Penn Central was a massive bankruptcy but I never really looked into the whole history. I should read up on it when I get a chance. Any particular histories of railroads in the US you'd recommend? (I'm probably not interested enough to read one of the books specifically on the Penn Central.)
No.. thats not right either - Penn Station was demolished in 1962-63 - well before the Pennsylvania and New York Central merged. They did want to demolish it, because of prohibitively high maintenance costs.
Including the Hotel Pennsylvania. One of my fondest memories is attending The Next HOPE in 2010, arriving in New York City at Penn Station, and making the walk across the street to the Hotel Pennsylvania. Perhaps that's sad to some people - I grew up in the country where the tallest building was the three story church steeple in the middle of Shitkick, Texas.
It was my first time in a world-class city, and I had a phenomenal time - strolled down to K-Town and got some incredibly amazing Korean food, saw Times Square up close and in person, had a great time exchanging big thoughts with big thinkers, and generally had a wonderful time.
Now if they'd consider making Newark Airport and the PATH train into Penn Station not suck...
I guess parts of the facade and entrance on Seventh Avenue are somewhat distinctive. (The same architectural firm designed the hotel and Penn Station.)
I gather there's a renovation planned--which is sorely needed based on what I've seen. There was a long-running plan to just tear it down but supposedly it's going to be updated instead.
That's what I like about this plan. It takes the evil Madison Square Garden and saves it rather than just tearing it down as Penn Station was. The plan does something new rather than just trying to re-create the old Penn Station.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_City_on_the_Edge_of_Foreve...