As Midtown commuters know, Penn Station has been a complete morass of construction, at least for Long Island Rail Road customers, as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is expanding the main corridor, which has meant a complete gut job with every store along the corridor bought out and eliminated. It would seem that this is just a precursor to the mayhem, as NYS government has its eyes on rethinking the entire Penn Station area, which will mean gutting the rest of Penn Station and razing much of the surrounding neighborhood and slapping up a group of glass luxury residential towers. Fun times for the next two decades!
The fun has already begun, with the completion of the Moynihan Train Hall between 8th and 9th Avenue, which serves mainly Amtrak customers who use tracks 5 through 16, the only tracks that fit under the building. The “Moyn” is nice enough, but its vast shopping and dining areas remain empty while COVID-19 runs the game.
Signage on platforms from 1-16 has already been changed to what you see here. It has a confusing aspect, to me. Why is Boston indicated as being closer to 7th Avenue, Washington to 8th? (They are main stops on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor line, the heaviest-trafficked rail line in the country other than local subways and commuter routes.) What do Boston and Washington have to do with 7th and 8th Avenues?
I don’t think they put a lot of thought into this.
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Edited 11/29
11/24/21