Moynihan Moves Slightly Forward

Almost a year after Nicolai Ouroussoff's blistering piece on the worthless architecture of New York City, it looks like one of the most hated-by-locals square block of Manhattan may seem some change, and soon. Over the weekend, Amtrak agreed to relocate its Penn Station operations to the proposed Moynihan Station across the street to the old Farley Building. The super-massive structure, which is itself an entire city block in size, would relieve that adjacent block of its long-standing dual roles of transit hub and entertainment venue, something that has remained an uneasy truce since the current Garden was built in '68.

It bears mentioning that Moynihan Station—as beautiful as the conceptual renderings floating around the internet are—will always pale in comparison to the original structure that was demolished to make way for the "modern" sports and entertainment venue. The original Penn Station, an airy, steel-and-glass shrine to one of the most beloved American gods—transportation, has long been a cause for nostalgia and wringing of hands, and Moynihan Station is bound to be the girl New York ends up dating simply because it reminds us so much of the first girl that we ever loved, and who we subsequently allowed Mosean developers to raze and pave over.

Tags:   amtrak, city, farley building, madison square garden, moynihan station, new york, new york times, nicolai ouroussoff, paterson, penn station, robert moses, transporation

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