Imagine that: Reimagining a more user-friendly Penn Station
Skift Take
Granted, Penn Station really needs reinvention, but most of these are pie-in-the-sky and completely impractical solutions. And besides, MSG is there to stay for at least the next 15 years.
Four teams of architects presented plans Wednesday for a reimagined Penn Station that would be a spacious, welcoming gateway to New York City instead of the crowded, confusing and dark transportation hub now used by hundreds of thousands of daily commuters.
The four firms that took part in a design challenge sponsored by The Municipal Art Society all said the only way to improve Penn Station would be to move Madison Square Garden from its current home atop the train station.
John Fantillas of H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture said the arena crowds the station "like three fat men in a rowboat."
Roger Duffy of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill called Penn Station "a disaster" and said his firm has imagined "a magnificent future" for the area with Madison Square Garden moved just to the southwest of its current location.
Madison Square Garden called the plans "pie-in-the-sky drawings."
"It's curious to see that there are s
