Great pics of the demolition of Penn Station in NYC

http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2013/10/28...tation.php

Paul

Wow, quite a series of photos. I can remember being there in the early 50's. I always wonder why they do things like this in the name of progress. From its construction, it looked like it would be standing 1000 years from now.

Unfortunately, in our society, bu$ine$$ will always trump heritage...

I remember riding a train from D.C. to N.Y., Penn Station, until March of 1963, where I would connect with the LIRR, to get out to Sagaponack, ( Usually I was late enough that I had to catch the 11:49 to Speonk, and hitch from there out. From March 1963 to May 1965, I road Greyhound buses from Norfolk, Va. to Manhattan, and walked to Penn Station, to catch the LIRR.
I guess the LIRR part was deep enough below the main part of the station, that I was unaware of the destruction going on above, but am a bit surprised that I have no memory of the "destruction", during the '63-'65 period, which is when I was up on street level, getting to and from Penn, to the Greyhound depot.
On the other hand.....that WAS 50 years ago, and those "files" are "no longer accessible" due to the "age of the CPU", and antiquated "software" ( Old , Fat And Re-Tired syndrome ) :o

It always surprises me when a historic structure like that can't be repurposed for something else. But my guess is that at the time the real estate in Manhattan was simply worth more than whatever else they could use the building for.

nachoman Wrote:It always surprises me when a historic structure like that can't be repurposed for something else. But my guess is that at the time the real estate in Manhattan was simply worth more than whatever else they could use the building for.

You got that right. How would you like to buy a condo in downtown Manhattan? I just saw a few, 700 sf for $1,000,000, a 750 sf one was almost $2,000,000. Just think what you'd get for that kind of money here. For 2 mil, one can get around a 5,000 sf house with pool and tennis court on a couple of acres in Paradise Valley. Yeah, no skyscraper views, but who needs that here in the Sonoran Desert? Plus, you have unlimited parking space too.

ezdays Wrote:Wow, quite a series of photos. I can remember being there in the early 50's. I always wonder why they do things like this in the name of progress. From its construction, it looked like it would be standing 1000 years from now.

They do it because there is little or no practical commercial use for such huge monuments to the past, but the land itself is worth a fortune, and because we have become an entirely expendable society. We value nothing unless it makes us money. That's why architecture is a non-existent field these days - decorating public buildings to make proud statements no longer has a place in a bottom line, profit-dominated culture.

Well, happily the St. Paul Union Depot has been undergoing renovation and will become a transportation hub with the light rail line between Minneapolis and St. Paul. Certainly on a much smaller scale than Penn Station, but a preservation of heritage nevertheless.

Artist's conception.....
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You can fortunately visit an homage to Penn Station in Ottawa. Ottawa's old Union Station survives as the government conference centre. It was scheduled for demolition to "clean up" the downtown in time for Canada's 100th birthday in 1967 but luckily survived.

The waiting room was modelled on Penn Station.

Penn Stn from <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.brooklynmuseum.org">http://www.brooklynmuseum.org</a><!-- m -->
[attachment=15516]

Ottawa Union:
[attachment=15515]

Ottawa is not exact, and it is much, much smaller. Still, if you get a chance to see it... You can also sit on one of those benches at the Museum of Science and Tech beside CNR 6100, one of the largest steam locomotives preserved in Canada.

Andrew

A sad set of pictures.

Hopefully, our modular group will be saving an enormous HO model of this station. The only thing it needs is catenary! I haven't heard any words on the subjet yet, but apparently the museum who owns it no longer wants it.

nachoman Wrote:It always surprises me when a historic structure like that can't be repurposed for something else. But my guess is that at the time the real estate in Manhattan was simply worth more than whatever else they could use the building for.

I strongly suspect there were people in the Pennsy who saw Penn Station as just a giant commuter station, and figured money could be saved by not having to maintain such a structure.

In fact, its funny you mention real estate, as that is one of the factors leading to the failure of the Penn Central. There were some in the upper management of the railroad that thought they could make more money investing in real estate (much of it not anywhere near the northeast). It got to a point where according to some books i've read, that requests for funds to maintain tracks and trains were denied so that the money could be invested in "the real money makers", real estate. This was just part of the massive mismanagement of that company.

At the very least, good did come from this, since it drove people to be more concerned about what they tore down. At least we still have Grand Central Terminal.

MountainMan Wrote:"ezdays" wrote: Wow, quite a series of photos. I can remember being there in the early 50's. I always wonder why they do things like this in the name of progress. From its construction, it looked like it would be standing 1000 years from now. They do it because there is little or no practical commercial use for such huge monuments to the past, but the land itself is worth a fortune, and because we have become an entirely expendable society. We value nothing unless it makes us money. That's why architecture is a non-existent field these days - decorating public buildings to make proud statements no longer has a place in a bottom line, profit-dominated culture.

It's not all that often that I fully agree with a lot of comments here, but, MoutnainMan, here, we definitely agree.

"Nine rings were given to the race of Men, who, above all things, desire power", Add our second worst fault, Greed ! and there's not a lot left to be said.

Sumpter250 Wrote:It's not all that often that I fully agree with a lot of comments here, but, MoutnainMan, here, we definitely agree.

"Nine rings were given to the race of Men, who, above all things, desire power", Add our second worst fault, Greed ! and there's not a lot left to be said.

Now, this has nothing to do with Penn Station, other than showing human's lust for greed causes they to do stupid things. (hmm, doesn't that take in two of the deadly sins?). Anyway, we've watched the game show, "Let's Make a Deal". The contestants have choices and can wind up with some valuable prizes including cars and money. Sometimes they hit a "Zonk" and they get nothing. We've seen college students and others turn down offers of money just to wind up with something very useless, or nothing at all.

A typical scene can go like this, "I'm a student at USC studying to be a teacher", or, "I'm an unemployed single parent behind on my rent and electric bills".....
Host says: "What's behind curtain 3 is all yours, but I'll give you $1000 to not take it"....
Greedy contestant: "No, gimmy curtain 3"...
Host:, "make that $2500.".....
Very greedy contestant:, "I could use the money to pay bills, but I WANT WHAT'S BEHIND CURTAIN 3" (hoping to get a "free" car).
Host:, "here's what you're taking home... a home gym, a set of skiing equipment or... yeah, a Zonk"... none of which you can use to pay bills.

It all boils down to greed. The chance of getting more. Bigger profits, whirlwind riches, something for nothing with no regard to the consequences. Let's tear down this historical building so we can make 10, 50 or even 100 million dollars profit to add to the 500 million we already have in the bank.... As Gordon Gekko said, "Greed is good", and as a result, he wound up in prison.

Seems like I'm on a soapbox kick today.

I always suspected Monty Hall was actually Satan. :mrgreen:

Ralph Wrote:I always suspected Monty Hall was actually Satan. :mrgreen:

It's hard to fight that concept any of these game shows. They tempt even the most innocent into driving for a bigger prize, while the host is making tens of thousands an episode, nay, one game show host was bragging that he made $150,000 an episode. hock: Just think, if a couple of them got together with a few actors and sports figures, they could have pooled a fraction of their salaries and ultimately saved Penn Station, and perhaps turning it into one ginormous railroad museum. Yeah, we're too late for that now, but it is worth trying on other projects that are doomed by progress.

Steamtrains Wrote:Unfortunately, in our society, bu$ine$$ will always trump heritage...

Yeah,like the song says "The city counsel meet last week the vote was 4 to 3 to tear the home depot down and build a factory".

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