The Grand Penn Community Alliance (GPCA) presented his proposal To renovate Penn Station on the New York Historical on Tuesday 11 March, with a return to the pre-demolition of the original Transit Hub Beaux Arts Glory and a total relocation of Madison Square Garden (MSG), among other things.
Under the leadership of former New York City Chief of Urban Design Alexandros Washburn and funded by the National Civic Art Society (NCAS), a Washington, DC, Non -profit that pleads for classical architecture in federal buildings, the proposal to build on President Trump’s Creangs in Slow -moving expansion plans of Penn Station. Governor Hochul spoke with Trump about allocating federal dollars To improve the station last November after he was chosen.
The board of the NCAs, founded in 2002, includes Thomas D. Klingenstein-an extreme right-wing political scientist, Trump Ally, and chairman of the think tank of the conservative Claremont Institute Who Pour more than $ 10.5 million in contributions to Republican campaigns and PACs During the 2024 election season.
The renderings released by the Grand Penn Community Alliance show a classic facade covered with Doric columns for the Penn 2 Business Center of Vornado Realty Trust at the entrance of the station. GPCA’s proposal would also fully level the circular modern architecture of the controversial Madison Square Garden to make way for a grassy public square that is approximately the size of Bryant Park and accessorized by a fountain.
Despite the fact that it was the most famous entertainment and sports location in the world, MSG led to international indignation for his role in the demolition of the original PENN station in 1963 in the Penn station in Penn-Station. Historian Vincent Scully to comment on that “People came into the city like a god. People now rise like a rat. ‘
In an interview with HyperallergicNCAS President Justin Shubow recalled that Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan about the Late New York Biggest single act of vandalism In the history of New York. ‘
In 2013, the Manhattan Community Board 5 voted Put a time limit of 10 years on the operational permit of the Arena Instead of having it run forever. Multiple architecture companies proposed the relocation of the location in bids to renovate and expand Penn Station, and in 2023, the same Community Board only offered MSG a five -year operational permitClosing the final relocation of the site for the advantage of the station.
That same year, the MSG -Vice -President Joel Fisher suggested that the Location would be susceptible to cross the street On Seventh Avenue, where the world -famous and now denied Hotel Pennsylvania once stood. The plot also belongs to Vornado, which is planning to develop the site, called Penn15, in a skyscrap tower when market conditions match the plan.
Hyperallergic Contact Vornado Realty Trust and the Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corporation for Commentary. In addition to the move of MSG, the views of the Alliance in front of the commuting room call on the original Penn Station Competourse High ceilings and inputs of iron and glass – complete with a replica of the original clock – That would connect to the Moynihan Train Hall in the post office of James A. Farley via an underground tunnel. The entry competition would also contain 18-foot high ceilings and multiple lifts and escalators.
Washburn, a main architect of the development of the Moynihan Train Hall, estimates that the Revision of Penn Station would cost around $ 7.5 billionof $ 3.5 billion devoted to MSG’s move. In the FAQ section of the GPCA website for the project, the Alliance notes that the cost estimate “$ 1 billion less should cost than the schemes proposed by the state of New York and Amtrak”, both of which leave MSG above the station.
“What we do here is ultimately a civil moving,” said Washburn in a phone call with Hyperallergicpoint directly to the Ephebic oath for classical Athenian youth That promised to leave their city better than how they thought it.
With regard to Penn Station, a hub for non-protected people, especially because the COVID-19 Pandemie, Washburn said that public toilets and public seats were without a doubt included in the proposal, “while many designers just take away [those amenities] Because they don’t want to tackle the problem. “
In response to possible fear of both the involvement of President Trump and the controversial call back to classical architecture, both Shubow and Washburn were reminded of the memorable appearance of the original station.
“If people object to the architecture, well, they are very welcome to do this. But if President Trump gets involved, this does not mean that we don’t get a beautiful station, “said Shubow. “The design speaks for itself – regardless of what people can think about Trump’s politics, this is something that all New Yorkers will make proud.”
Washburn, who is half Greek, shared that “classic architecture naturally comes to him”, and said that the form works as an “interaction between the natural and classic”, with reference to the use of the Corinthian column of the Acanthus Leaf motif as an example.
In January Trump published a memorandum entitled ‘Promoting beautiful federal civil architecture“That called for” regional, traditional and classical architectural “designs. The memo led to immediate pushback of groups, including the American Institute of Architects, that said The president’s preferences can suppress architectural freedom and innovation.
