This is the year of the train station in New York City. …
It was a pleasant surprise in January when Governor Cuomo announced a $3 billion proposal to build what he’s now calling Moynihan Train Hall within the post office building and, in a second phase, rehab the existing Penn Station. Collectively, the two parts will be known as the Empire State Complex. The renderings that accompanied his announcement were by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), which has done several versions of the project since the 1990s. SOM’s current design uses the original steel trusses that once held Farley’s great skylight (covered over during World War II) to support a series of catenary arches, dramatic glass structures that give the historic building a 21st century élan. …
The Penn Station overhaul has the potential to make a lot of people—some 650,000 woebegone daily rail riders or, eventually, 1.3 million if you believe the governor—very, very happy.