As Midtown West gets completely remade with Hudson Yards and Manhattan West, the area directly east around Penn Station continues to be a terrible mess. But developer Vornado, which controls some 9 million square feet of real estate near Penn Station, wants to change that. Crain's reports that Vornado tapped starchitect firm Snohetta to create a masterplan for the area that would provide an outline for a complete overhaul of buildings and street level spaces. Snohetta is responsible for turning Times Square into one massive public plaza, and they're going to bring that same sensibility to Penn Station to help with what a Vornado exec rightfully described as "the collision of humanity."
To see how plazas would work near Penn Station, 33rd Street between Seventh Avenue and the Madison Square Garden's loading dock will be closed from July 19 to October 11. The temporary plaza will have tables and chairs and host performances and activities. According to Crain's, renderings of the plaza included a yoga class and a juggler. Additionally, 32nd Street will be limited to one lane of traffic to give people more room to walk.
As for actual improvements to Penn Station, well, that's still not happening anytime soon.
· Vornado taps Snohetta to lead Penn Station area overhaul [Crain's]
· Developer Hopes to Make Penn Station Area Less Hellish [Curbed]
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