Twin Proposals To Remake Penn Station Unveiled By State

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — Officials shared new images this week of Penn Station's possible makeover, part of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's long-held goal of expanding the maligned train hub.

The proposals, unveiled Wednesday at an MTA board meeting, include two different options for transforming the station.

The more ambitious of the two calls for renovating Penn Station into a single, vast concourse, wiping away its low ceilings and nearly half of its upper level in favor of a grand , airy concourse.

It would include a new, "light-filled" train hall with entrances on 33rd and 31s streets near Seventh Avenue, according to the MTA, including a multi-story atrium built in the former taxiway between Madison Square Garden and 2 Penn Plaza that has been closed since the 9/11 attacks due to security concerns.

The more modest, "two-level" plan would keep Penn's second story while still creating a central atrium in the space that is currently home to the Hulu Theater, a 5,600-seat space that belongs to Madison Square Garden, and which the state would purchase to facilitate the plan.

Officials hope the proposal will coincide with the Gateway Project, a plan to build a new rail tunnel Hudson River that has stalled for years, but which may finally proceed with the support of President Joe Biden's administration.

Cuomo has also called for expanding Penn Station's capacity by building new tracks a block south of its current location — part of his controversial "Empire Station Complex" proposal that would remake the neighborhood, but which critics have attacked as a giveaway to real estate developers.

The new Moynihan Train Hall, which opened Jan. 1, did not expand Penn's train capacity.

The state is seeking public comment on the alternative plans, before MTA, Amtrak and NJ Transit select one.