The History of Penn Station
“How tragic, how sad that so many Americans will never know what it was like to arrive in New York for the first time in your life at Penn Station. It was spectacular. If you had never been to New York before, you came into the city for the first time and you came out and there you were in this breathtaking, man-made, wondrous, architectural place. Vincent Scully says that we used to come into New York like gods when we came into Penn Station. Now we come into the present Penn Station like rats. It was one of the worst things to happen to an American treasure—not just in New York, but in the whole country.”
–Author and Historian David McCullough, from the Ric Burns and James Sanders (with Lisa Ades) documentary New York
David McCullough was a student of Vincent Scully’s at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut during the 50s and spoke at Scully’s funeral. He noted that Scully, commenting on architecture, once said “architects don't just build with steel and stone, they build with light.”
Excerpt from Ric Burns, New York: A Documentary Film
1910
On November 27, 1910, Pennsylvania Station opens to the public. It spans two city blocks and features an awe-inspiring mix of granite, steel, and glass. Its main waiting room is modeled after the Roman Baths of Caracalla and features 150-foot ceilings, while the train concourses are flooded with natural light. It is hailed as a masterpiece of Beaux-Arts architecture and instantly becomes a symbol of New York’s status as a world-class city. At its peak, the station serves over 100 million passengers annually.
1962
In 1962, the cash-strapped Pennsylvania Railroad announced plans to demolish the original Penn Station and sell the air rights to developers. In its place, they would build Madison Square Garden and office towers, with a much smaller, underground station hidden beneath the new complex. This announcement sparked widespread public outrage. Architects, historians, and everyday New Yorkers protested the loss of the beloved Beaux-Arts masterpiece, holding rallies, writing letters, and speaking out in the media. Many saw the demolition as a tragic loss of an irreplaceable architectural treasure and a symbol of the city’s disregard for its history. Despite the protests, demolition began in 1963, but the public backlash ultimately helped inspire the modern historic preservation movement in New York City.
1940s-1950s
Following World War II, rail travel across the U.S. enters a period of sharp decline. The rise of the automobile, suburbanization, and the growth of commercial aviation make passenger trains less popular. The Pennsylvania Railroad sees shrinking profits and is unable—or unwilling—to maintain the grand but expensive-to-operate station. Over time, parts of Penn Station become shabby, underused, and neglected, no longer resembling the civic palace it once was.
1963
Demolition officially begins in October 1963, sparking massive public outrage. Architects, artists, preservationists, and everyday New Yorkers protest the decision. Vigils are held outside the station, and newspapers publish scathing critiques. Vincent Scully, a Yale architecture historian, famously laments,
Despite widespread opposition, the protests are ultimately unsuccessful. The demolition proceeds, piece by piece, of what many called America’s greatest public space. The destruction is seen as a cultural tragedy and a wake-up call for preservation.
1904
The original Pennsylvania Station was designed by Charles F. McKim, a partner at the architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White—legends in their own time, having received commissions for buildings of considerable consequence from far and wide. Mr. McKim was in fact busy on a redesign of the White House for President Roosevelt, when he was summoned to Philadelphia to meet with Alexander Cassatt, President of the Pennsylvania Railroad, America’s largest and most important company.
