Our photograph this afternoon of the new W33rd Street Entrance to Penn Station caused an uproar on Facebook and Instagram. It was the first time we’d seen the new entrance on 7th Avenue sandwiched between Pennsy and Lenny’s!
Local Andrea Kleiman instantly called it “the Leaning Tower of Penn.” Others couldn’t wait to see the new structure up close — and many were critical of the money spent by the MTA in a time of a budget squeeze.
Checking on the renderings published by the MTA earlier in the year, it looks like there was a last-minute change of plan on which way the structure would “hang” (or maybe it’s meant to create an optical illusion!). The version below shows it hanging over to the left.
Another shows it straight.
Whereas, our picture today shows it definitely hanging to the right.
Anyway, if it all lines up — you should come up the escalator to a perfect view of the Empire State Building.
The entrance is officially known as the East End Gateway. It’s part of Penn Station’s accelerated transformation, including the brand-new Moynihan Train Hall (that opens on January 1).
The 33rd Street and Seventh Avenue structure will become the main entrance to the station.
Governor Andrew Cuomo said in May that the new Long Island Rail Road concourse and atrium would be “the first time you will have illumination and light in that concourse in over 50 years.”
The glass atrium is 32-foot-tall and according to the Governor, this part of the project will cost $600 million with $170 million coming from the MTA capital budget and the remainder funded by New York State. The Penn Station revamp should cost $1.6 billion, with funds split between private firms and state agencies.
What to do you think? Comment below…
The oculus’s ugly sister.