Governor Cuomo unveils $3 billion Penn Station plan

Rendering of the proposed new transportation hub.

Gov. Cuomo Flickr

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposes a $3 billion plan to transform Penn Station and the James A. Farley Post Office into a world-class transportation hub.

The project, known as the Empire Station Complex, will feature significant passenger improvements to enhance the travel experience. The project will be expedited by a public-private partnership in order to break ground this year and complete substantial construction within the next three years.

The original Penn Station first opened in 1910 and its underground areas have remained in continual use since then. In its current form, the station is designed to accommodate 200,000 daily passengers. In practice, it is the busiest train station in North America, serving more than 650,000 passengers every day. The governor’s proposal will address these current shortcomings and transform the facility into a modern gateway to New York that is capable of meeting the demands of increased ridership in the 21st century.

“Penn Station is the heart of New York’s economy and transportation network, but it has been outdated, overcrowded and unworthy of the Empire State for far too long,” said Gov. Cuomo. “We want to build Penn Station to be better than it ever was and that is exactly what we are going to do. This proposal will fundamentally transform Penn Station for the 21st century and we are excited to move forward with the project in the days to come.”

The existing Penn Station facility will be dramatically renovated. The project will widen existing corridors, reconfiguring ticketing and waiting areas, improve connectivity between the lower levels and street level, bring natural light into the facility, improve signage, simplify navigation and reduce congestion and expand and upgrade the retail offerings and passenger amenities on all levels of the station. The new station will include Wi-Fi, modernized train information displays and streamlined ticketing.

Several design alternatives will be considered, including major exterior renovations involving 33rd street, 7th avenue, 8th avenue and/or Madison Square Garden Theater.

As part of the proposal, the Farley Post Office, which sits across 8th Avenue from Penn Station, will be redeveloped into a state-of-the-art train hall for Amtrak, the new train hall, with services for passengers of the Long Island Rail Road, New Jersey Transit and the new Air Train to LaGuardia Airport.

The train hall will be connected to Penn Station via an underground pedestrian concourse and increase the station’s size by 50 percent. At 210,000 square feet, the train hall will be roughly equivalent in size to the main room at Grand Central Terminal. The new facility will offer more concourse and circulation space, include retail space and modern amenities such as Wi-Fi and digital ticketing and feature 30 new escalators, elevators and stairs to speed passenger flow.

The simultaneous redevelopments will be advanced by a public-private partnership, resulting in one holistic and interconnected world-class station. Solicitations to developers will be issued by the state and Amtrak this week.

The construction cost is expected to be in excess of $3 billion, including $2 billion to redevelop Farley and Penn into a world-class transportation hub and at least $1 billion for ancillary retail and commercial developments between 7th and 9th avenues. $325 million of this will come from government sources, including the U.S. Department of Transportation, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and Amtrak. Nearly all of the work will be funded by private investment, in exchange for an interest in the long-term revenue stream generated by the retail and commercial rents.

Work will be expedited, with completion expected in the next three years; Farley will open before Penn Station’s redevelopment is finished. State and federal environmental review has already been completed on redevelopment plans for the Farley Building, clearing a major hurdle and lining the project up for work to begin.

“Amtrak appreciates Gov. Cuomo’s leadership, vision and commitment to the expansion of passenger rail capacity here in New York,” said Amtrak President and Chief Executive Officer Joseph Boardman. “We’re proud to work closely with the governor, the Empire State Development Corporation and others on his team to help lead a rail renaissance in Manhattan. With the development of Moynihan station as Amtrak’s new intercity train hall and the pursuit of Penn Station improvements for the hundreds of thousands of daily commuters that use our facility, we are setting the stage for the future expansion of rail service and ridership that will be made possible by the Gateway Program.”