“It’s a work of art”: Cuomo cuts ribbon on light Moynihan train station

Governor Andrew Cuomo formally unveiled the new Moynihan train station at Penn Station on Wednesday with a ceremonial – and socially expired – ribbon-cutting ceremony.

‘It’s a work of art that we no longer build. It’s too breathtaking and ambitious to ask, ‘Can we really do this?’ Many doubters said it was too daring and cheeky, but we said we could, ‘Cuomo said during the ceremony. ‘It’s a wonderful public job. Another kind of statement that says we understand and appreciate the meaning of public works. “

Train operations in the Moynihan Train Hall are expected to begin on January 1. The $ 1.6 billion project transforms the century-old James A. Farley Post Office building into a transit center, increasing the size of Penn Station by 50%.

Construction began in 2017 on the 255,000-square-foot train hall, named after New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who has been advocating for the project for years. For decades, the expansion plan has been talked about and ridiculed as a tax-funded shopping mall that could pay little attention to train services. In January, Cuomo unveiled a blueprint to add eight new tracks and increase Penn Station’s capacity by 40% by acquiring an entire block south of Midtown Center for a new terminal.

According to architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, an acre of glass was used for the massive skylight in the new hall, designed to evoke the splendor of the Beaux Arts of the old Pennsylvania station.

The hall also uses its origins in the Farley Post Office, designed by McKim, Mead and White after designing the original Pennsylvania station in 1910. The striking steel bowls that make up the four safes are original, where the postal police are original. used to patrol to examine the sorting floor below. Art installations by Kehinde Wiley and Elmgreen & Dragset appear throughout the hall.

Hostile architecture also appears with blue benches in the waiting rooms designed to ward off sleeping people.

The new train station is located across from Penn Station between Eighth and Ninth Avenues and West 31st and 33rd Streets and connects to the Long Island Rail and Amtrak platforms and tracks, as well as the subway. There will be a Starbucks:

Check back later for more photos and full coverage of Tuesday’s opening.

With Annie Todd and Jake Dobkin