Scully famously remarked that where as before, “One entered the city like a god one scuttles in now like a rat.”Īfter the destruction of Penn Station, Mayor Robert Wagner created the first Landmarks Preservation Commission. In 1968, architectural historian Vincent J. The new Penn Station was summarily hated by everyone. By 1966, most of Penn Station’s remains - the Doric columns, the granite and travertine details - had been dumped in a New Jersey swamp. But demolition continued on schedule.Ī year later, on October 28, 1963, jackhammers tore into Penn Station’s granite slabs. The demolition took about three years. On August 2, 1962, two hundred architects marched up and down 7th Avenue shouting slogans like “Polish, don’t demolish!” and “Save our Heritage!” The men wore suits, the women wore white gloves and pearl, the lettering on their signs was impeccable. The only New Yorkers who seemed to care about the destruction of Penn Station was a small group of activist architects who called themselves AGBANY - the “Action Group for Better Architecture in New York.” Penn Station would be demolished in the process. But the one that won out was the futuristic sports and entertainment palace - Madison Square Garden.Ī deal was struck: Pennsylvania Railroad would keep the train tracks in place, and sell the air rights above them. Pennsylvania Railroad executives knew that they could profit if they could rent out the space above the station to a big, tall building. There were proposals to build parking garages, amphitheaters, and a 40-story office tower. The Pennsylvania Railroad Company couldn’t afford the upkeep of Penn Station’s grandeur. After World War II, passenger trains just weren’t as popular anymore. Penn Station was only 40 years old at this point, but already its days were already numbered. Not wanting to be outdone by the beauty and grandiosity of Penn Station, the Vanderbilts tore down their Grand Central and built a newer, shiner, Beaux Arts-style Grand Central Terminal. The Vanderbilt family owned Grand Central Station, which was not anywhere near as “grand” as it is now.
Newspapers called Penn Station the 8th wonder of the world. Everyone loved it.Įveryone, that is, except for one other railroad family that owned another station across town. Courtesy of the New York Public Library Courtesy of New York Architecture The grandeur of Penn Station would thus crown his monumental achievement. At the time, passengers could only get across the Hudson River via ferry. Cassatt built the first ever train tunnel to run underneath the Hudson River, which was considered one of the greatest engineering feats of all time. For Cassatt, Penn Station would fix a problem that had plagued New York for years - getting between Manhattan from New Jersey. The old Penn Station was the brainchild of Alexander Cassatt, head of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Travelers would enter through an exterior façade of massive Doric columns. Inside was a grand staircase into a waiting room not unlike a Roman temple. It was a Parthenon for trains. The original Penn Station in New York City opened in 1910. The building was the fourth largest building in the world when it was finished.
Though Penn Station is a drab, low-ceilinged rat maze of a station, it used to be the opposite. It was vast, light-filled, and gorgeous.
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