Virtual Town Hall – Empire Station Complex
Thursday July 15th @6 PM
Hosted by Community boards 4 and 5 and your elected officials
Renovating the existing Penn Station, adding eight new tracks, razing a city block, doubling the surrounding density and keeping Madison Square Garden untouched, while creating a cohesive district with lots of space to walk, views of the Empire State building and no shadows on neighbors will be a tour de force.
A Community Advisory Working Group has been scrutinizing the State’s plans over the last 12 weeks and now it is up to the public to review what is in store. The working group will include the input from the larger community to finalize its recommendations. Don’t miss it .
The governor’s proposal is an outrage. I live near Penn Station and already the whole area is an overloaded construction zone. I walk with a walker because of s fracture in my back; the uneven streets and sidewalks make it doubly more difficult to get around. The streets are torn up because of the construction going on now. Adding to this environment would be an unwarranted tragedy. Use the money to build housing for low-income tenants.
What Manhattan needs is more low and middle income housing of medium height not great big skyscrapers that we now have enough of.
Clearly the people making these decisions have never taken the time to see the atrocities that each of these redesigned spaces creates. The flooding around the entire block of the Penn Station/Madison Square Garden is inexcusable. Every corner has ponding that is downright rude during most of the year and treacherous in the winter when the accumulated water turns to ice. DOT will not address these conditions. The giant food carts block and prevent safe passage from crossing the streets (currently there is a food vendor smack in front of the 7th Ave entrance to Pen Station.) They should never be allowed. The placement of the M34/M34A east bound bus stop at 34th/7th Ave is dangerous. The new fancy spaceship entrance @7th Ave/W33 is horrible. And don’t even get me started on the countless permanent street homeless population many with mental illness and drug addiction living all around this area in filthy and inhumane conditions. Where are the public restrooms? Where are the potable drinking fountains? Where are the hand washing stations? I can go on and on. Shame on NYC for not putting you feet on the ground to see the mess you create every time your waste money. Let me know if anyone wants to see first hand the mess you make.
I live across the street from this project. There are incredible historical architecture that should be considered and saved on 30 th St. a Church that was built before the Civil War and office and manufacturing buildings that were built in the same incredible detail as the original Penn Station.
There is also a Cuomo building which used to be a homeless shelter ( conflict of interest)
If this project goes through. Engineers need to be hired to preserve the historic buildings on top and demolish the park and lot for access.
The block between 34 th and 33rd has no historical buildings and seems a better choice for the expansion.