October 28, 1963: The Demolition of the Old Penn Station

October 28, 1963, 60 years ago: Demolition begins on the original Pennsylvania Station, built in 1910 between 31st and 33rd Streets, and 7th and 8th Avenues in Midtown Manhattan. Since most of the station's operations were underground, there wasn't much disruption of service.

By this point, the most beloved train station in America didn't look so good. That photo above is not colorized: The marble had been stained by over half a century of pollution. And with the decline in train travel compared to the rise of driving and flying, a train station this grand was no longer necessary. The successor station would be utilitarian at best -- and a commuter's nightmare at worse.

When the Pennsylvania Plaza complex opened in 1968, including the new Madison Square Garden above it, Penn Station had become completely subterranean, and it went from being one of the most beloved transit centers in America to one of the most hated.

But the original station's destruction spurred the landmark preservation movement in New York City, which helped to save Grand Central Terminal in the 1970s, Carnegie Hall in the 1980s, and so many other great buildings. Still, not every great building was saved: Once Lincoln Center opened, the original Metropolitan Opera House was demolished in 1967, and a boxy skyscraper was put up in its place.

September 8, 1910: Pennsylvania Station Opens In New York

September 8, 1910, 100 years ago: Pennsylvania Station -- or "Penn Station" for short -- opens in Manhattan, between 31st and 33rd Streets, and between 7th and 8th Avenues. It is hailed as the greatest train station ever built, and eliminated the need for trans-Hudson ferries.

It serves New Jersey and beyond via the Pennsylvania Railroad, and the Counties of Nassau and Suffolk via the Long Island Rail Road. To get to points north, such Upstate New York, New England and Canada, one must still use Grand Central Depot, or, after its replacement in 1913, Grand Central Terminal.

(I had considered doing a "Scores On This Historic Day" post for the opening of Grand Central Terminal, which is still in use. But it was on February 2, 1913, and no games were played. Maybe in the National Hockey Association and the Pacific Coast Hockey Association. But, at the time, New Yorkers, and indeed nearly every other American, would not have cared.)

The growth of highways and the auto industry ruined passenger rail travel in America, beyond the commuter level. In 1963, New York's Penn Station was a dirty relic, and hardly resembled the great temple of transit that people who hate its replacement want to think of it as.

The upper structure was demolished, and service continued below ground, protected by a temporary steel roof, until 1968, when the new Penn Station opened, with the new Madison Square Garden above.

Penn Station II, New York, which opened in 1968

By 1968, both the Pennsylvania and its great rival, the New York Central Railroad, were bankrupt. They merged, forming the Penn Central Transportation Company. It didn't work: They filed for bankruptcy in 1970, their regional service was taken over by the newly-formed Amtrak in 1971, and Conrail took over their local service in 1976. In 1983, New Jersey Transit took over. All the while, the LIRR kept rolling in and out.