David Sinco

Honors Thesis 2019

A Reimagined District

Abstract:

West Midtown in Manhattan is at a unique juncture. Centering around Penn Station,

multiple factors are beginning to close in on the district allowing for the potential for an entirely

new place to be imagined. The overcrowded and outdated design of Penn Station is standing in

the way of the district’s progress. With the ideas of urban planning and architecture

converging into a single place there are things to consider beyond logistical issues of traffic and

circulation. The identity of a place can be combined with architecture, planning, and culture

where Midtown now possesses these opportunities and gives the potential for reprogramming.

A new focus could be given to the district that would solve the pragmatic issues of urban design

while also tackling the weightier ones of identity and a sense of place.

Sitting squarely in the lower end of the island of Manhattan, Penn station rests bloating

over the extents of the sidewalk. This terminal for commuters, tourists, and residents is a

mound of movement where access to the streets are buried into a narrow network of

overcrowded levels supported by outdated column grids. The number of travelers is so large

that one central station is not enough. This terminal hosts the “largest number of commuters

traveled by LiRR and by NJ Transit, the second- and third- biggest commuter rail operators in

the United States behind metro-north.”1 The complex is comprised of a network of terminals;

Moynihan station, an Amtrak access point to the south of Penn that exist below three

1MAS, “Shaping the Future of West Midtown,” (October 2014): 17

buildings at street level, the office tower at Two Penn Plaza, the Cylindrical Madison Square

Garden, the Farley Post Office Building, and the Farley Annex. The complex is expansive

stretching from 31st to 33rd streets from 7th ave to 9th ave.

While it may seem counterintuitive for such

a congested, important point in a city’s

infrastructure to be below street access, faith in

public transport was in decline and the integration

of the car was becoming the dominate means of

transportation in the early 1900s. Public funds

were allocated more heavily towards the

construction and maintenance of roads, highway systems, automobiles, and suburban life in

general. The architectural critic Aldolf Loos described this moment in time as making the

decline of the city fabric, “We are an impoverished society. It is a poor society indeed that

can’t pay for these amenities; that has no money for anything except expressways to rush

people out of our dull and deteriorating cities.”2 In effect, city life had become so monotone

and plagued by the impression of a place for work, not for enjoyment. The lead architect who

designed Penn, Charles Luckman, did not foresee the reemergence of the city in 1960 as one

that would need to account for growth in transportation. As the economy and city at large

began to expand and develop New York City has seen a reemergence in vibrant culture and a

life in Manhattan is now much different than when Penn was conceived.

Inside the station, three major transit lines inhabit the space. LIRR, NJ Transit, and

Amtrak organize themselves by dividing their services in separate lobby and ticketing. Their

independent use of signage and wayfinding operate on their own terms while not coexisting

with and integrating into an architecture that provides logical circulation and trajectory from

street level to train and vice versa.3

It is not just inhabitable space that causes the need for renovation. The condition of the

rails have become a large factor in the need to reimagine the transport system. After

Hurricane Sandy the rails crossing the Hudson River experienced significant flooding, impacting

their functionality and requiring renovation. This increases the urgency at which something

must happen to address not only the arrival point that commuters interact with at the

terminal level, but also the rail lines themselves. But that would be a relatively straightforward

2 MAS, “Unlocking Penn’s Potential Establishing a Penn Station Redevelopment and Revenue Capture District,” (July 2013): 5. 3 MAS, “Envisioning a New Penn Station, the Next Madison Square Garden, and the Future of West Midtown,” (October 2013): 6.

renovation if it was only the rails that were requiring attention. At the street level, the portion

of the hub that is accessed through Madison square gardens is blocked and closed from

security concerns that have been raised after 9/11. This prevents passengers from having a

place to unload their luggage, forcing them to do so in the streets. In the broader sense at the

district level, it is seemingly counterintuitive for an access point of this magnitude to release

commuters and travelers into a district that does not support the level of foot traffic that it

has. Unlike Grand Central Terminal and Manhattan’s East Side or similar transportation hubs,

the district surrounding the station has never existed as a world-class business district. 4

Despite the station being surrounded by areas of Manhattan that have renowned office space,

the district that encompasses Penn sees rent at comparatively low rates reflecting the current

quality of the area. This low rent is counterintuitive to its location as Penn station provides

prime regional connectedness.5

4 MAS, “Envisioning a New Penn Station, the Next Madison Square Garden, and the Future of West Midtown,” (October 2013): 3. 5 MAS, “Unlocking Penn’s Potential Establishing a Penn Station Redevelopment and Revenue Capture District,” (July 2013): 15.

The outdated poor condition of

this district would not be as significant

if it weren’t for the sheer number of

people who depend on Penn for their

daily lives. In the last ten years,

ridership of all three transit lines has

increased by 26%, with an additional

projected growth in ridership of in the

NJ trainline of 28% by 2030. Two of

the three rail lines, NJ Transit and

LIRR, are at the second and third largest of raillines in the United States, just behind Metro

North. 6These statistics reflect the overall capacity of Penn station which reaches over half a

million travelers exceeding its original capacity of two hundred thousand riders.

A major factor to the process of reimagining the transit center of Penn station is that the

massive circular building sitting above street level poses major logistical issues to reshape that

of Penn station. Madison Square Garden is fulfilling its termed lease to its end date of 2023.

This arena causes not only infrastructure problems below ground, but also major congestion

issues at street level. Beyond the location of the station which causes visual confusion when

wayfinding through the district, the outdated, unsafe design is causing issues on an urban

6 MAS, “Shaping the Future of West Midtown,” (October 2014): 10

scale impacting the flow of pedestrians and cars. The street level is plagued at every event

held at MSG as the ten to twenty trucks used to set the event do not have proper access to the

venue due to inadequate loading areas congest the streets, plazas, and sidewalk, adding to the

already difficult access to the terminals below.7 The nearly fifty-year-old special events arena is

outdated and despite a recent ten-million-dollar renovation, competing venues are out

performing MSG.

This arena could be relocated but the sites proposed are tied mainly to its relationship

to Penn station. Currently patrons of Madison Square Garden move entirely indoors from train

7 MAS, “Unlocking Penn’s Potential Establishing a Penn Station Redevelopment and Revenue Capture District,” (July 2013): 12.

to stadium seat. Moving the arena will force the partrons onto the streets, accompanying the

rush at the beginning and end of events taking place. While this may seem like a major

deterrent to relocating the arena, the streets are chaotic now from the lack of effective urban

design. Using architecture to thoughtfully create a proper means of access from street to train

would mitigate any drawback to increasing pedestrian flow at specific event-based times. The

potential of unlocking the district’s ability to serve as a monumental transit hall with rezoned

retail and office space would then work in tandem with the increase in pedestrian impacts.

The final force advocating for the redevelopment of Penn station is that of contextual

nature. Hudson Yards is experiencing exponential growth. This expansion of the area is slated

to bring more visitors, employees, and residents to the area that will be dependent on Penn

Station. Midtown’s central flow is shifting to the west, the current street level rail lines will be

covered by a complex of mixed-use towers centering around an open-air green space.8

Responding to this move west the city is considering two sites for Madison Square Gardens:

the Farley Annex or the Morgan Postal Facility and Annex Site. These two sites, while relatively

8 MAS, “Envisioning a New Penn Station, the Next Madison Square Garden, and the Future of West Midtown,” (October 2013): 18.

close to each other create the

discussion of how to reimagine

the master plan of the district.

The Farley Annex Provides much

greater access to transit, similar

to its current position, while the

Morgan Postal Facility provides

the opportunity of interacting

with the highline and the exponential growth and development of Hudson yards.

The question then is raised, regardless of Madison Square Garden’s permanent location,

when Penn station emerges as a world-class transit hub, what will the thousands of people

emerging from the ground see? The district has not been updated since the 1960s leaving the

area surrounding Penn underutilized. This causes the entire area to not live up to its full

potential. The district instead is comprised of pre-World War II office buildings, and industrial

lofts of the garment district, the entire collection of office use buildings then, are over 50 years

old.9 The revitalization of the station

would be a first step in reversing the

neglected, outdated area that does not

reflect the innovation and

competitiveness of the city on the global

stage. The city has slated thirty-three

sites to be rezoned and developed as a

part of the vision to redevelop the

district.

This type of development may improve

the appearance of the district but what

does it do for the identity of the place?

Of course, updated office space will bring in revenue and encourage retail, commerce, an

9 MAS, “Shaping the Future of West Midtown,” (October 2014): 19.

improved quality of life to surround Penn, but this type of development that simply addresses

cosmetic issues falls short. Updating façade, adding newer lighting and furniture, misses a

crucial quality the rest of the city has, culture. This is a unique opportunity where there are

many forces at play that begin to encourage and incentivize not just a new train station but an

urban strategy that if done well could not just renovate but reprogram the ideas of place.

Addressing the need for updated transportation is a logistical concern that is not the

only factor encouraging a redevelopment plan. The combination of the relocation of Madison

Square Garden, impacts from the development of Hudson Yards, and the potential for

increased connection to the highline ultimately prompts the city to allocate thirty-three sites

for rezoning and development creating a pivotal point in the makeup of this portion of urban

fabric. To aid in this effort, Grimshaw architects in partnership with Futurecity conducted a

cultural resource survey of west Midtown. What they found was a vast number of small but

important cultural popups close to Penn. These popups include venues for performing and

visual arts, as well as the display and sale of multimedium art and services and even

educational facilities. They sought to gather information that could aid designers in rethinking

this district.

The proximity of cultural installments surrounding Penn is a shallow jumping off point,

culture exists throughout the island of Manhattan. A look into the history of Westmidtown, its

ties to the garment district and the need for a focused programing allows for something more

precise to happen. There is a way to both improve the circulation, the logistical need, give

purpose to the district, while simultaneously using architecture and culture to solve the

problems of Penn and Westmidtown.

The masterplan then needs a scheme that mitigates the numerous forces pressuring the

district. Centering the district around Penn, allowing transportation and access to inform the

parti creates a hierarchal approach that dictates design moves linking the renovations of the

office space to the transportation, circulation, wayfinding, and cultural entities that ultimately

contribute to the identity of the place.

Beginning with Penn, a large pedestrian street could serve as proper access to the

entrance into the terminal, linking to the perpendicular cross street, 7th Ave. This crossing

point links to fashion ave. that holds a datum of subway entrances. By linking a new cultural

center to display fashion works by the neighboring Fashion institute of technology in

combination with the pedestrian street, subway stop, and entrance to Penn a terminus

location to the subway stops along 7th is conceived. Using architectural influences and ideas of

form from this center these stops become literal pieces of the larger project with similar

formal architectural language. Then, when residents and commuters emerge from the ground

at Penn they are met with a new and engaging focused program center that could leave its

traces down 7th Ave with improved subway stops. These stops not only contribute to the

architecture, creating a narrative of the place, but also provide a rethinking of what a district

specific program could be, addressing the detriments the district currently has.

References

The Municipal Art Society of New York City. Unlocking Penn's Potential Establishing a Penn Station Redevelopment and Revenue Capture District. July 2013. https://www.mas.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/153899088-Unlocking-Penn-s-Potential-Establishing-a-Station-Redevelopment-and-Revenue-Capture-District-compressed.pdf The Municipal Art Society of New York City. Envisioning a New Penn Station, the Next Madison Square Garden, and the Future of West Midtown. October 2013. https://www.mas.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/176397390-Penn-2023-2-compressed.pdf The Municipal Art Society of New York City. Shaping the Future of West Midtown. October 2014. https://www.mas.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/244108609-MSG-the-Future-of-West-Midtown-1-compressed-ilovepdf-compressed-1.pdf 6sqft Publications. Photos: See Moynihan Train Hall's massive skylight being installed. June 2018. https://www.6sqft.com/photos-see-moynihan-stations-massive-skylight-being-installed/ CBS News. New York's Original Penn Station https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/new-yorks-original-penn-station/22/. January 2005