Manhattan’s Penn Station just got an upgrade, at least when it comes to sprucing up its most used entrance.
Amtrak and New York developer Vornado Realty Trust, in a public-private partnership, have completed the overhaul of what’s billed as the busiest entrance of the busiest U.S. train station at Seventh Avenue and 32nd Street, the two parties said Monday in a statement.
The enlarged and fully rebuilt entrance expands its width by 50%, provides natural light and air down into the concourse, and features a fully Americans with Disabilities Act-accessible elevator. Three new escalators replaced two original ones.
Some 600,000 daily visitors travel to Penn Station, Amtrak Chief Executive Stephen Gardner said in the statement.
The entrance’s 1967-era concrete overhang has been replaced with a new glass canopy, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Norman Foster’s firm, Foster + Partners, that allows natural light into the station below, Vornado and Amtrak said.
Vornado is also working with the Department of Transportation to widen the sidewalks along the west side of Seventh Avenue between West 31st and 33rd streets.
The developer’s work on the project came because of its redevelopment of the Penn 2 office tower above the transit hub, part of its larger Penn District development surrounding the station.
Vornado said in October that its renovated Penn 1 office building ranks among in-demand buildings that have seen rent go up as tenants seek desirable buildings nearby Manhattan’s two main transit hubs, including Penn Station. It also has helped to redevelop Moynihan Train Hall, housing Meta's Facebook as the office tenant, across from Penn Station.
The company said last month Penn 2’s overhaul is nearing completion. It recently also demolished the century-old Hotel Pennsylvania across from Penn Station.
Still, against the backdrop of economic uncertainty and higher interest rates that have frozen financing activity, Vornado said earlier this year it's pausing any further Penn District development. CEO Steven Roth also said in October Vornado doesn’t plan to roll the dice on New York’s high-stakes casino bid. The developer was said to originally consider a potential casino on the site of the recently demolished hotel.