‘Ugly’ Penn Station to Undergo $3 Billion Revamp, Cuomo Says

But earlier today, NY governor Andrew Cuomo revealed an ambitious new plan that would transform the current station and its neighboring post office into a shiny new transportation hub he’s calling the Empire Station Complex.

The envisioned name may have a bit of a “Death Star” ring to it, but in reality Cuomo’s proposal is about upgrading the underground Penn Station-where the Long Island Rail Road, New Jersey Transit, Amtrak and NYC subways meet. 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.

Plans to overhaul it, including efforts to connect it via underground passages to a massive redeveloped main post office across the street to improve passenger access, have been have been called for and talked about for years. The majority of the cost would be borne by the private sector, with just $325m coming from “government sources”, including Amtrak, which owns the existing Penn Station; the Farley building is owned by the state.

Cuomo claimed major construction could be completed in three years once construction bids are solicited in the next 90 days.

A Related spokeswoman applauded the governor’s focus on the revitalization of Penn Station and Moynihan Station.

“Governor Cuomo’s plan will right the wrong of Penn Station by restoring it to its former glory as a grand entrance worthy of the Empire State”, Denise Richardson, executive director of the general contractors association, said in a statement.

“It is a bad impression of NY”. But in 2008, Madison Square Garden’s owners decided against relocating, and the developers had to switch gears.

Opening the new site through new entrances at the corners and mid-block at MSG and Penn “so you take the four corner entrances, and you take the mid-block entrance, and you open them up”, Cuomo explained.

Amtrak President Joseph Boardman called the project a “rail renaissance”. Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday the overhaul of the landmark transportation hub.

This is the “largest investment in upstate NY in history”. State officials on Wednesday said that because the developers are able to re-submit proposals, the state isn’t on the hook for the penalties. “It has gone on for decade after decade after decade”.