ReThink Penn Station hosted a forum on the future of Penn Station at Cooper Union’s Grand Hall funded in part by The Barbara and Donald Tober Family Foundation and Mary Jane Wahl Gearns Foundation. The evening offered alternatives to Governor Hochul’s plan, which proposes demolition of the neighborhood to build supertall office towers and continue Penn Station as a subterranean facility. This proposal has drawn widespread community opposition and multiple lawsuits. Inspiringly, this evening proposed moving Madison Square Garden and building an above ground station.
ReThink Penn Station’s Sam Turvey explained, “Why has a plan for the busiest transportation hub in the hemisphere been allowed to move forward without public debate? This is the future of our city and the east coast for generations to come. We’re all here tonight because the Governor and her predecessor have proposed the mother of all band-aids for Penn Station. New Yorkers have for too long suffered with a substandard, subterranean after-thought of a station buried beneath a basketball court. We deserve better.”
Urban Planner Gina Pollara added, “We all collectively have an opportunity to make a difference, when the Madison Square Garden permit expires in June we have to make calls to people who matter” She continued “The permit for Madison Square Garden expired ten years ago. It was renewed by the City Council with the understanding that The Garden seeks its next home. This has not been done and yet Madison Square Garden continues to pay no taxes. Is this in the public’s best interest?”
Lorraine Diehl, author of The Late Great Penn Station, spoke of what was lost with the demolition of the station in 1963. Three architects, Vishaan Chakrabarti, Alexandros Washburn, and Richard Cameron, presented a range of alternatives for a new above ground train station. Joining the discussion were New York magazine’s Justin Davidson, Lorraine B. Diehl, Cathleen McGuigan, and Peter Schubert. Four hundred New Yorkers assembled for the important conversation with five hundred participating via zoom.
For more information see: https://www.rethinkpennstationnyc.org/