Pen-Elayne on the Web

Going Postal

A couple weeks back Robin and I were talking with our short-bus-ride-away-neighbors Ann and Joe Lewis about NY2012's desire to build a new Olympic/NY Jets stadium on the West Side of Manhattan around the Javits Center. And Joe was saying something about Penn Station relocating to that area as well, and extending the subway lines so they go all the way west, but that didn't sound right because Penn just underwent a renovation at its current 7th Avenue location, and I couldn't see them moving it 4-5 blocks west just for this. As it turns out, the proposal is to extend the #7 line only so that it terminates at the proposed site rather than at Times Square (as Hell's Kitchen Online points out, "Giving priority to the extension of the #7 subway could kill or delay the long-delayed and much more essential Second Avenue subway"). And even though Penn has just been upgraded and the new NJ Transit concourse opened a few months ago, turns out they're not planning on moving it but they're going to be buying the post office across the street instead. That's right, kids, buying the World's Largest Post Office, and redeveloping a part of it into, as the legislation signed by Governor Pataki last year puts it, "a transportation and commercial center." Yes, even though we already have one of those, and even though it's just been expanded, and even though the Farley Station is an historical landmark. Here's a factsheet naming names. Here's some more info on what they're planning to do, including pictures. I admit Penn is a bit crowded, but I'm fairly surprised there isn't more protest against all this - not even a lot of public discussion about it. I guess some other stuff just takes priority here in the Big Apple. After all, it's not like we don't have the money for this.