Moynihan Train Hall in Midtown moves LIRR,
Amtrak riders out of darkness and into light
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
Amid the darkness of a grim year for
New York, daylight broke through
the massive skylight above the
newly opened Moynihan Train Hall in
Midtown on Dec. 30, 2020 — a project
that moved forward even as the COVID-19
pandemic derailed normal life.
The 92-foot skylight towering above the
hall’s main concourse contains more than
an acre of glass and, for the fi rst time in
more than six decades, provides natural
light to passengers heading to or from
Amtrak or Long Island Rail Road trains
stopping at Penn Station.
Governor Andrew Cuomo helped cut
the ribbon on Dec. 30 to mark the hall’s
completion decades after the late Senator
Daniel Patrick Moynihan fi rst raised the
idea of turning the underutilized Farley
Post Offi ce into a grand new transit hub
harkening back to the original Penn Station,
which met the wrecker’s ball in the 1960s.
For Cuomo, the Moynihan Train Hall’s
completion amid the COVID-19 pandemic
that fi rst struck New York hard in the
spring perfectly underscores the city’s
resiliency and fortitude.
“This would be an amazing accomplishment
at any time, but it is an extraordinary
accomplishment today,” the governor
said. “We’re at a place where no one ever
envisioned us being. We saw the greatest
country in the world fall prey to a microscopic
virus, and we have seen our world
turned upside down.”
Through it all, Cuomo noted, the work
to complete Moynihan Train Hall — which
began in 2017 — went on, meeting a goal
he outlined in January during an address
to the Association for a Better New York.
That the hall is set to open on Dec. 31 gives
the governor great optimism for the year
ahead, even as the state battles the second
wave of COVID-19.
“You will have challenges in life, but
the question becomes how you respond to
those challenges,” Cuomo said. “We learn
the lessons and move forward. What this
hall says to me is, ‘Yes, we can. Yes, we can
learn. Yes, we can grow.’ As dark as 2020
was, to me, this hall brings the light literally
and fi guratively. … New York brings the
light.”
Joining Cuomo at the ceremony were
a litany of leaders who helped move the
project forward in recent years, including
Eric Gertler, Howard Zemsky, Steve Cohen,
Douglas Carr and Holly Light of the
Empire State Development Corporation;
Tony Khosa, William Flynn and Stephen
Gardner of Amtrak; Janno Lieber and Phil
Eng of the MTA; Rick Cotton, executive
director of the Port Authority; and Paul
Goldberger, famed architectural critic who
served as a project consultant.
Maura Moynihan, the late Senator
Moynihan’s daughter, also joined in the
festivities.
The new Moynihan Train Hall moves
Amtrak and LIRR commuters out of the
dingy labyrinth of underground concourses
and tunnels that they’ve trudged through
for decades since the original Penn Station
was demolished to make way for Madison
Square Garden.
As of Dec. 31, Gertler explained, passengers
will be able to access all Amtrak
FILE PHOTO
and Long Island Rail Road trains from
Moynihan Train Hall, which is located
directly above 17 tracks and nine platforms.
They’ll be able to wait in dedicated lounges
with free wi-fi access, and shop at more
than 700,000 square feet of new commercial,
retail and dining space (once dining
restrictions are lifted).
The new train hall includes three new
artistic installations as well as an art decostyled
clock that serves as its centerpiece
much like the golden clock at the heart of
Grand Central Station.
‘Invest in NY’ campaign aims to tax the rich
BY DEAN MOSES
Well over 100 individuals
were accompanied
by Public Advocate Jumaane
Williams and other elected
officials outside of Governor
Andrew Cuomo’s Midtown offi ce
on Tuesday morning to demand
greater taxations on the wealthy
for the revenue to help rebuild
the city.
New Yorkers stood beneath
what many in attendance called
“the Palace of King Cuomo” at
633 Third Ave. Here they raised
fi sts to the sky and waved signs
condemning the state leader’s tax
policy just after 11 a.m. as the
crowd roared at the Governor’s
Manhattan offi ce.
Chants of “tax the rich!”
could be heard for blocks while
more protesters steadily joined
the growing group. This public
display of vitriol launched a
statewide campaign to “Invest in
Our New York,” an act to raise
revenue by increasing taxes on
the rich.
A podium was erected amidst
a sea of business owners, struggling
workers, and people who
have been particularly hard hit
as a result of the COVID-19
pandemic. From this platform, a
who’s who of progressive elected
offi cials and local leaders voiced
their support for a movement
designed to bolster working-class
and low-income residents of a city
that they say cater to an affl uent
demographic.
“We are so proud to launch the
‘Invest in Our New York’ campaign
to take care of each other
and to rebuild our economy by
ending tax breaks for the richest
New Yorkers,” said Sochie Nnaemeka,
director of the Working
Families party.
Williams called for the governor
to be the man he claims to
be in his books, and to help pass
the measures outlined in “Invest
in our New York.” He reminded
those in attendance that poverty
and suffering existed prior to the
onslaught of the COVID-19 virus.
“We don’t want to go back to
normal after the pandemic because
normal didn’t work before
the pandemic,” Williams said.
He acknowledges that New
York needs help from the federal
government, but that more aid
is needed. Williams also asked
Cuomo to get on board with these
progressive ideas to help gather
revenue for public funding.
“This is a time for bold action
from bold leaders. We need
someone with the vision and the
opportunity and boldness to put
this forth. That is what a leader is.
A leader is not just press conferences,”
Williams said.
The impact of the coronavirus
has continued to exacerbate fi nancial
discrepancies in low-income
and Black, Brown and immigrant
communities. About 60% of New
Yorkers have lost income since
the dawn of the pandemic with
about 1.4 million facing eviction.
Advocates are pleading for extensive
taxations of the extremely
wealthy in order to invest in the
city’s struggling backbone.
Underneath the gaze of a Cuomo effigy, Public Advocate
Jumaane Williams became emotional with pleas for a better
tomorrow.
4 January 7, 2021 Schneps Media