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PENNSYLVANIA STATION Featuring an interview with an LIRR commuter 1962 2012

Penn Station Project Slides

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Urban Geography Team Project on Penn Station and Grand Central Terminal (Penn Station Slides authored by Sylvia Martin).

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Page 1: Penn Station Project Slides

PENNSYLVANIA STATIONFeaturing an interviewwith an LIRR commuter

1962

2012

Page 2: Penn Station Project Slides

Amtrak runs along the Northeast Corridor from Washington to Boston, mirroring Interstate 95

Penn StationPennsylvania Station, aka Penn Station, is the transportation hub for three rail systems; Amtrak, NJ Transit and the Long Island Railroad. You can also access two different subway lines; IRT and IND found at opposite ends of Penn Station. Each station has its own look and feel which varies from the others.

How do you see traveling the LIRR?“It’s very convenient and fast, it’s more comfortable than the subway. “

How do you get to work in the morning?‘’I take the LIRR and I take the Path train. “

Page 3: Penn Station Project Slides

Sensation

The graceful Choreography of Penn Station, in particular the Long Island railroad was fascinating. During a 20 minute recorded observation, not one person collided with anyone. There were people with bags, people with children, people with bags and children, people sans bags, a guy bouncing a basketball and a guy with a tuba and all managed to avoid a collision. This was a true wonder given that many of them were either running to a train or being passed by someone running, one guy accomplished his running in a hop, jump, shift, jump again kind of way. What a sight to see!

What senses get stimulated on your commute?“I would say my sense of hearing; somehow your ears become a little more acute to all the different noises going on, so what people are talking about, what they’re doing, you know, who’s on the phone, the conversations going on even though you’re not trying to listen to it, you kind of focus a lot on what people are doing. “

If there were a sudden change in the sound, would you be more alert?“Yes, you get used to the sound of the trains themselves and sometimes when something doesn’t sound the same; either the hum of the air conditioner or the sound of the wheels, or the little screeches and stuff like that, sometimes something doesn’t sound right because it’s louder or it’s an odd rhythm. You kind of notice and wonder ‘what’s wrong with this train?’”

Page 4: Penn Station Project Slides

ScaleScale in Penn Station can be looked at on several different levels; the size of the station (originally 8 acres) number of rails systems under one roof (3), number of tracks (21), number of people that come through the station daily (600,000), and even how much space someone takes on the train.

How does it feel spatially?“Over the years, I’m finding the railroad to be a lot more crowded and therefore it’s lost a little bit of its coziness, almost what people used to think of as a little exclusivity, being on the railroad versus being on the train. Now it’s almost as crowded as the subway, sometimes you have to stand the whole way which is pretty annoying considering the price you pay.”

Can you estimate how many people?“I don’t take the early early trains because they are more crowded, but I would say hundreds. Generally the train is full, you gotta make sure you put yourself in a spot where you’re gonna be near the door when it opens so you can get a seat.”

Page 5: Penn Station Project Slides

Technology

Free iPhone App called ‘ontime’ for the LIRR

There are many self service kiosks all over Penn Station, this is a very convenient way to purchase your ticket without waiting on long lines.

There is even a company, Coo Coo, that you can text your to and from locations and you will receive a response with departure and arrival times.

How has your trip changed with Technology advancements?“It gives you more distractions, more things to do, it makes the trip feel quicker, so if I can get on my iPad, let’s say, and I start reading the news , or I can read work email, respond to emails, next thing you know I’m at Penn Station so the time goes by quicker.”

Page 6: Penn Station Project Slides

Social Reproduction

How long have you been taking the LIRR?“It’s about 15 years, 15/16 years.”Have you seen any major changes in the way its structured?“Actually no, considering that the cost of the railroad has gotten higher just about every year, I don’t really see what I’m getting for the extra money.”Do you ever happen to go by the NJ Transit area, have you seen how that looks?“Actually no, I don’t really go by there. I don’t really venture that much.”

Another social reproduction, as commuters focus on going from point A to point B, is forgetting to ‘stop and smell the roses’ or in the case of NJ Transit, take in the sun beams that bathe the beautiful mosaics at the 7th avenue and 31st Street exit.

Clever passengers who supplement their sleep while they commute, are able to do so by exposing their ticket for the conductor and not be disturbed. This is usually socially reproduced by nearby passengers who, in order to avoid an unpleasant encounter with the sleeping passenger, begin to do the same, ah the bliss.

Page 7: Penn Station Project Slides

Nature

Do you encounter nature on your commute? “Yeah, actually, the station where I am has a lot of trees and a lot of stuff nearby there, you can see all the birds and sometimes you’re standing at the station waiting and you’re kind of just…let’s call it, bird watching because you’re kind of watching them picking up stuff to build nests, or flying back and forth chasing each other, the little mating dances, and little rituals.”

Page 8: Penn Station Project Slides

Representation

What do you think the proper etiquette should be on the train, what are your pet peeves?“People talking on the phone pretty loud, we don’t need to hear your personal conversations. Also, some people get on the train and feel they own the space and they’ll sit on one seat, put their bag on another and put their feet on a third. I guess they don’t want people next to them, they do it on purpose. If someone is standing, they may not ask to sit depending on their personality, other people just say excuse me.

Sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_Station_(New_York_City)

http://transportationnation.org/2012/08/07/video-how-to-survive-and-occasionally-thrive-in-new-york-penn-station-the-continents-busiest-train-hub/

Interview with Addison Augustin of AXA Equitable