the staff of the Ridgewood blog
New York NY, Amtrak is getting a new home, moving its Penn Station operations across Eighth Avenue to the historic Farley Post Office Building on Jan. 1st.
The James A. Farley Post Office building is one of Manhattan’s most storied structures: It was completed in 1913 by the office of McKim, Mead & White, intended to complement the firm’s grand Penn Station, which was located across the street. In 1966, after the demolition of the majestic old train hall, the Farley building became one of the first structures to gain protection under the city’s new Landmarks Law.
The new $1.6 billion facility dubbed Moynihan Train Hall after the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan adds 50 percent more waiting room to the notoriously dingy and crowded Penn Station, according to state officials. Travelers will be able to connect from the new train hall to Amtrak, the Long Island Rail Road and the Eighth Avenue subway.
The work on Moynihan Train Hall began in 2017. The 255,000 square-foot train hall features a 92-foot skylight, which will provide a stark contrast with Amtrak’s dimly-lit hall under Madison Square Garden.
The Post Office Building itself contains 740,000 square feet of office space, with Facebook as it’s primary tenant.
The new station will continue to have the same number of tracks , however there are plans in the works for more .
Doesn’t New York need a post office any more?