Moynihan Station: on the Right Track?

January 02, 2008 By Lisa Kersavage

For the first time in a decade, real progress is being made to fulfill Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s vision for a grand new train station worthy of New York. In the 1980s, Senator Moynihan proposed building a new station within the Farley Post Office, across the street from the dismal Penn Station — a proposal the Municipal Art Society has been championing for more than a decade. Continue reading...

New Video: The Struggle to Build Penn Station

May 20, 2008

On April 23, historian Jill Jonnes delivered a fascinating presentation on the construction of Penn Station and its tunnels, the subject of her recent book Conquering Gotham: A Gilded Age Epic. The event was part of MAS' spring program series Can New York Build Another Great Station?

With the aid of some amazing photographs rescued from the depths of the Pennsylvania Railroad archives, Jonnes recounted the “titanic battle with nature” that culminated in the construction of the original Penn Station.

Watch the New Audio-Visual Slideshow of Principles for a Great New Penn Station

December 06, 2007

MAS President Kent Barwick offers a brief history of the Moynihan Station project and explains how principles for the development of a great new Penn Station would put the public interest first, would ensure an efficient transportation portal and a great new work of contemporary civic architecture; would protect the character of the historic Farley Post Office; and make the station the fulcrum of a great new Moynihan Station district.

MAS has signed on to the Friends of Moynihan Station Principles, which consider even more planning, preservation and transportation issues. You can read those principles in full by clicking here.

Click on the "play" icon to start the slideshow. [Headphones are recommended for optimal audio quality.]

For more details on MAS advocacy on Moynihan Station, visit www.newpennstation.org.

The Year of Moynihan Station

January 04, 2007
With an unspoiled new year ahead, and a new, reform-minded governor in Albany, there is fresh hope that a grand new train station will be realized in Midtown Manhattan. Now more than ever, the pressure is on to ensure that the public will benefit from what will also be an extraordinary real estate deal for the private sector partners. When construction finally ends, we must be left with a train station we can be proud of. Continue reading...

MAS Poll Reveals Desire For Public Voice in Moynihan Station

September 01, 2007

The Municipal Art Society recently released new poll results revealing that commuters and mass transit riders overwhelmingly favor a whole-scale renovation, redevelopment and expansion of Midtown’s Penn Station that enhances pedestrian access and accommodates increased rail traffic. Though the results show respondents believe they are not fully informed about plans to expand the station into the Farley Post Office building, they make it clear that the public wants to have a voice in its development. Continue reading...

What's So Grand About Grand Central Terminal?

December 12, 2006 By Kimberly Miller
Despite a recent push to move forward quickly on plans to build Moynihan Station within the Farley Post Office on Eighth Avenue in Midtown, this dream deferred will have to wait a while longer. The good news is this delay gives the public a chance to weigh in on how the state should spend what could add up to $1.5 billion of public money. The time to speak up is now.

What makes Grand Central so grand? Take this survey and let us know what lessons Moynihan Station should learn from the success of Grand Central. Also, take a few minutes to read our newest position statement on Moynihan Station. Send your comments to info@mas.org and add your name to our growing list of Moynihan Station advocates. Continue reading...

Moynihan Station: Second Chances

By Kent Barwick Pat Moynihan believed that America is the land of second chances. He saw the idea to build a new Penn Station in the landmark Farley Post Office across Eighth Avenue from the current "stygian chamber" (hell hole) of a station as New York[s golden opportunity to redeem itself for tearing down the original Pennsylvania Station. He persuaded Congress to allocate the funding so that New York would regain a grand gateway with room to grow. Continue reading...

Javits Expansion Plan: Wrong for the West Side

April 23, 2007 By Kent Barwick
It is clear that the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on the Far West Side needs to be expanded and reconfigured. The question is, how best to do it? A recent editorial in The New York Times wisely urges Governor Spitzer and the Empire State Development Corporation to “take a step back and assess the needs of the city and the exhibitors who use the center” and to “make some accommodation to the waterfront.” Continue reading...