In 2016, The New York Times asked Vishaan Chakrabarti and his firm Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU) to develop a proposal for the redevelopment of Penn Station that would address issues not resolved by current initiatives to redevelop the Farley Post Office. Most notably, the Farley plans do not solve the problem that a very large proportion of daily users of the station cannot use a redeveloped Farley building because of the position of Long Island Railroad and New Jersey Transit platforms, which are largely located between Seventh and Eighth avenues and cannot be moved.

PAU developed a proposal that would repurpose the current Madison Square Garden as a new terminal serving LIRR and New Jersey transit riders to complement the Amtrak station proposed by Governor Cuomo for the Farley building. Michael Kimmelman, the Times architecture critic, called the idea of creating a new grand entryway to New York from the existing Madison Square Garden structure a possible solution “hiding in plain sight” to the issues that have long bedeviled efforts to redevelop the station. The PAU proposal, presented in an interactive feature in the Times on September 30, has been further developed with support from the Ford Foundation.

On February 23, Vishaan Chakrabarti will present the proposal in a program co-sponsored by The Architectural League and the Regional Plan Association. RPA president Tom Wright will provide a brief history and policy context of issues surrounding Penn Station redevelopment, and the presentation of the proposal will be followed by a discussion with Wright, architectural and urban historian Hilary Ballon, and architect Henry N. Cobb.

Presented in association with the Regional Plan Association.