Cuomo Dots Penn Station Expansion With Manhattan Block Acquisition
New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo has announced that Pennsylvania Station is going to see a well-needed expansion with an additional eight new tracks upon the acquisition of an entire Manhattan block.
NEW YORK CITY – New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo has announced that Pennsylvania Station is going to see a well-needed expansion with an additional eight new tracks upon the acquisition of an entire block in Manhattan.
The expansion proposal would increase the hub’s train capacity by 40% and accommodate an additional 175,000 daily passengers to the more than 600,000 commuters utilizing the train hub in Midtown Manhattan. Currently, Penn Station has several subway lines and three railroads—the Long Island Rail Road, NJ Transit and Amtrak.
Cuomo said the state would acquire the block sitting beneath the Madison Square Garden arena, which is south of the current station and stretches from Seventh Avenue to Eighth Avenue between West 30th and West 31st streets. State officials and real-estate owners on the block are in negotiation about the acquisition of the properties, according to Cuomo.