THE McKim, Mead and White architectural firm designed the enormous former James Farley post office, which opened in 1913, as a companion to Pennsylvania Station, just across 8th Avenue. A monumental Corinthian colonnade stretches along 8th Avenue for 2 city blocks, which contains the unofficial motto of the U.S. Postal Service: “Neither snow nor rain nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” The phrase was first used by the Greek writer Herodotus to describe messengers employed by the Persians, located in today’s Iran, during the Greek-Persian Wars that took place between 500 and 449 BC.
After several years of discussion and planning, Penn Station’s western concourse was extended to encompass Amtrak tracks and limited LIRR, and is now known as the Moynihan Train Hall, after U.S. Senator from New York Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who championed the project. It created new entrances at the southwest corner of 33rd Street and Eighth Avenue and at 8th Avenue and 31st Street. The entrances have escalators, elevators and stairs to the platforms. Plans to turn the Post Office building into the new Penn Station had been on the books for years, and the Moynihan opened to the public on January 1, 2021. See the link above for my photos and ruminations of both the Farley Post Office and the new Moynihan Train Hall.
The post office functions formerly in the James Farley building, named for the 1930s Postmaster General who expanded the building to a full city block, moved several years ago to the Morgan Processing and Distribution Center a few blocks away on 9th Avenue and West 29th Street. The public postal windows on the 8th Avenue side remain as they have always been, with the remainder of the building converted to the Moynihan Train Hall as well as retail and office space.
While I await a callback for seasonal work (which may or may not come, my employer has money trouble) I have been catching a show every week or every 2 weeks at what used to be called the Loews 34th between 8th and 9th. I have been underwhelmed by recent fare (except “Backrooms” and “Obsession”) but I like a dark room and a big screen. I really should curtail it because even with senior sicounts on everything including transit, a day at the flicks costs me around $40, but as the weather gets colder, I may keep it up.
While puttering around the Farley building on the way to the Loews I saw this inscription on the 31st Street side. There is likely more than one, so I should return and catch them all; they describe message delivery throughout the ages. I’ve never noticed them before.
After serving under Nero most of his career, Nerva ascended to emperor after the assassination of Domitian at age 66. He served for about a year and a half, from September 96 AD to January 98. While reversing some of the governmental excesses under Domitian, he lacked the support of the Roman army, who forced him to appoint the general Trajan as his successor. Nerv was considered a moderate and beneficial ruler, which is likely why he is unknown to all but Roman history buffs. He is remembered by the Farley inscription for canceling a burdensome Roman postal tax.
Charlemagne, a powerful ruler who united most of Western and Central Europe and was the first recognized emperor to rule from the west after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, is better known to students of European history; he was crowned in 800 by Pope Leo III (there have been many Leos; the current American pope is Leo XIV). He expanded a pre-exising courier service in Gaul by creating a structured relay courier system designed primarily to transport state secrets, military commands, and administrative decrees.
Check out the ForgottenBook (HarperCollins, 2006), as well as Forgotten Queens (Arcadia, 2013). I also have a chapter in the anthology “New York Calling: From Blackout to Bloomberg” (Reaktion, 2007). As always, “comment…as you see fit.” I earn a small payment when you click on any ad on the site.
9/8/26