Years before the final destruction, they let it deteriorate. But travel by air and automobile overwhelmed the railroads after the war, and Pennsy officials began to view their icon as an expensive burden. It was busier than ever during World War II. the federal government built the classically colonnaded General Post Office.įor 50 years, Pennsylvania Station served its purpose well. to accommodate its passengers, and across Eighth Ave. The railroad built the Hotel Pennsylvania across Seventh Ave. Soon after the station opened, it was flanked by two more creations from the architects at McKim, Mead and White McKim himself having died before the station was completed. There were private rooms where, for example, funeral parties could pause away from the general hubbub. In addition to the main waiting room, there were separate waiting rooms for ladies and gentlemen, and a smoking room off the men’s. When somnolent city fathers awoke to what had happened, they enacted a landmarks law that would be hailed as the nation’s strongest, a model for preservation laws from coast to coast. “Just another job,” shrugged a demolition foreman.īut it wasn’t that at all. The Penn Central bankruptcy would be the biggest in history.ĭown the old eagles came. The deal would be a futility: Soon the Pennsy itself would disappear, after a brief and desperate marriage with the New York Central. It had given up its air rights for a new Madison Square Garden and office tower. A half-century later it was struggling to survive, seeking to raise cash from its valuable mid-Manhattan station site. In the early 1900s, the Pennsylvania Railroad had been the nation’s richest and most powerful transportation company. Executives and hardhats beamed for photographers as a crane lifted the first stone eagle down from where it had perched over New York City for 53 years. on a drizzly Monday the 28th of October 1963. Workers started tearing down Pennsylvania Station at 9 a.m.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |