Moynihan Train Hall

Moynihan Train Hall
The train hall in December 2022
BuildingJames A. Farley Building
Location421 8th Avenue, New York City
Coordinates40°45′04″N 73°59′43″W / 40.75111°N 73.99528°W / 40.75111; -73.99528
Area255,000 sq ft (23,700 m2)
31,000 sq ft (2,900 m2) hall
PurposeHeadhouse and concourse
OwnerState of New York
OperatorAmtrak, Long Island Rail Road, NJ Transit
Future: Metro-North Railroad
DedicatedJanuary 1, 2021
Named forDaniel Patrick Moynihan
ArchitectSkidmore, Owings & Merrill
Websitemoynihantrainhall.nyc

Moynihan Train Hall is an expansion of Pennsylvania Station, the main intercity and commuter rail station in New York City, into the city's former main post office building, the James A. Farley Building. Located between Eighth Avenue, Ninth Avenue, 31st Street, and 33rd Street in Midtown Manhattan, the annex provides new access to most of Penn Station's platforms for Amtrak and Long Island Rail Road passengers, serving 17 of the station's 21 tracks. The hall is named after Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the U.S. senator who had originally championed the plan. The building's Beaux-Arts exterior resembles that of the original Penn Station; both buildings were designed by the architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White.

The 486,000 sq ft (45,200 m2) complex was built to alleviate congestion in Penn Station, which saw 650,000 daily riders before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The $1.6 billion renovation restored the Beaux-Arts Farley Building, a designated landmark, and added a central atrium with a glass roof. Moynihan Train Hall includes retail space, a 320-seat waiting area for ticket-holding passengers, and public restrooms. The hall is decorated with three artworks: a ceiling triptych named Go, a group of photographic panels, and a sculptural group.

The project had been in consideration since the early 1990s, with the first blueprints made public in 1993. However, several previous plans had failed because of a lack of funding and logistical difficulties. Amtrak withdrew as a tenant in 2004, but returned after the Farley Building was sold to the New York state government in 2006. A first phase, involving an expansion of a concourse under the Farley Building, started in 2010 and was completed in June 2017. Construction of the train hall proper commenced in 2017, and it opened January 1, 2021.

  1. ^ "Penn Station Track System". Amtrak. May 2017. Archived from the original on July 15, 2017. Retrieved May 26, 2018.