As part of Governor Cuomo’s new plans of a reimagined Penn Station, an entrance will be added at 33rd Street and Seventh Avenue. The new entrance will have direct access to the LIRR concourse from the street level.
In addition to the new entrance, Penn Station will get a pedestrian plaza spanning from Seventh to Eighth Avenue, permanently closing down that road on West 33rd Street. There is also plans do double the size of the LIRR concourse and raise the ceiling by 11 feet. Construction has already begun, and the station’s skylight has already been completed.
In his announcement, Governor Cuomo said,
“The construction is on schedule, it’s going to be completed in 2020. It is going to be magnificent. It is going to have retail, concourse, it is going to be a beautiful state of the art facility. It’s also going to have one of the really special skylights that will have an architectural significance that’s going to be breathtaking.”
His reason for the new entrance is safety and security. Saying,
“Terrorism is a real threat, as anybody who lives in New York City knows. And it’s one of the main priorities in my position to be constantly thinking ahead and eliminating points of vulnerability. We want to make sure that people can get in and out of Penn quickly. Especially considering the numbers that we’re talking about. So simultaneous with the Farley construction and the Moynihan Station construction we’re going to start to build a new Long Island Rail Road facility.”
The renovations are currently on track to be completed by 2020. Here’s a look at the current construction and renderings of the finished space.