EVENT DETAIL

On New Year’s Day 2021, Moynihan Train Hall opened to the public and restored a grand entrance to New York City lost since the mid-1960s, when the original Pennsylvania Station, a McKim, Mead & White masterpiece built in 1910, was demolished. The new facility is an adaptive reuse of the landmarked James A. Farley General Post Office Building, also designed by McKim, Mead & White in 1912, located across Eighth Avenue to the west of the current Penn Station head house.

The 1.9 million square feet five-story building sits on a superblock bounded by Eighth and Ninth Avenues and 31st and 33rd Streets. The project was led by New York State’s Empire State Development via a public-private partnership with Vornado Realty Trust.

The train hall’s central feature is the main boarding concourse, designed by architect Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM designed all three phases). Located in Farley’s former mail sorting room, the 150 feet by 200 feet space is column-free due to three existing steel roof trusses—invisible a century ago—that were uncovered and reinforced to become a significant focal point of the design. Their latticed configuration and riveted connections are reminiscent of framing in the old Penn Station and add delicacy of detail and a sense of lightness, despite their large scale. Four Skylights each measuring 50 feet by 150 feet and arched in cross-section, follow the gabled truss top chords to enclose the concourse.

The 110-year-old James A. Farley building had become antiquated and largely abandoned. Its continued use without modifications would have been inefficient while the complete demolition necessary for a traditional redevelopment would have been wasteful. Alternatively, renovating the building—taking full advantage of its original strengths—and repurposing it for transit, retail, and offices created a 21st century facility that maintains its early 20th century grandeur.