Old Penn Station advocates drum up support through new ad campaign

Penn Station’s $1.6B revamp is moving forward, but that hasn’t stopped architects and city planners from presenting different visions of a new Penn Station. Vishaan Chakrabarti’s Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU) proposed a plan that would move Madison Square Garden, but incorporate the shell of that building into the new station; and a group of architects and preservationists have been pushing to recreate the original Penn Station designed by McKim, Mead and White.

On Monday, this group, known as Rebuild Penn Station, launched an ad campaign to drum up support for their vision. Several New Jersey Transit trains arriving at Penn Station now feature illustrations by Jeff Stikeman that show off recreations of the old Penn Station. Amtrak and LIRR riders will also be given leaflets of these ads, and the question the group is trying to pose to them through this campaign is, “wouldn’t you rather arrive here?”

“Today Penn Station is an ugly, cramped, and ineffective transit facility that is an embarrassment to the city and indeed all Americans,” said Sam Turvey, the chairperson of the Rebuild Penn Station Steering Committee “We propose rebuilding the station to bring back an architectural masterpiece, while simultaneously improving and updating the station’s functionality.”

Checkout some of their leaflets/ads below:

• A new vision for Penn Station, subway shopping gets upscale, and more [Curbed]
• Penn Station’s $1.6B revamp is officially moving forward [Curbed]
• An alternative for Penn Station: repurposing Madison Square Garden [Curbed]