5 ms·

> Vault lights were used to light some of New York City's first subway stations and were placed in the ground of the opulent passenger concourse in the city's o

by lqet 7y ago

> Vault lights were used to light some of New York City's first subway stations and were placed in the ground of the opulent passenger concourse in the city's original Pennsylvania Station. I will never get my head around the fact that the old Pennsylvania Station was destroyed. It must be one of the biggest mistakes in urban development of the 20th century. > Another architectural critic, Ada Louise Huxtable, wrote in The New York Times in 1963: "The tragedy is that our own times not only could not produce such a building, but cannot even maintain it." [0] https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Penn_Station_interior.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Penn_Sta... https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/NYP_LOC5.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/NYP_LOC5... https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d9/South_facade_from_southeast_-_pennsylvania_station.tif/lossy-page1-1280px-South_facade_from_southeast_-_pennsylvania_station.tif.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d9/So... https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/The_New_York_improvement_and_tunnel_extension_of_the_Pennsylvania_railroad._Issued_October%2C_1910_%281910%29_%2814573203608%29.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/The_New_... https://live.staticflickr.com/5085/5383028384_a22f3605e4_b.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/5085/5383028384_a22f3605e4_b.j... https://static01.nyt.com/images/2019/04/24/lens/24pennnstation-ast-5/merlin_148714782_bb4b9b98-bded-4d9d-b4e6-f2a13d819201-superJumbo.jpg https://static01.nyt.com/images/2019/04/24/lens/24pennnstati... [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_Station_(1910%E2%80%931963)#Demolition https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_Station_(1910%E2%...

chrisseaton 7y ago
> the old Pennsylvania Station It wasn't that old! It was only built in 1910, and using modern techniques! It wasn't an ancient monument as you probably think it was, and it was only around for a few decades. Equivalent of a 1960s building being knocked down today.
- inferiorhuman 7y ago
  Equivalent of a 1960s building being knocked down today. There are plenty of buildings from the 60s I'd be sorry to see go. At the top of the list is the Marin County Civic Center and the TWA Flight Center.
  - Benjammer 7y ago
    JetBlue turned the TWA center into a hotel, I don't think they plan on getting rid of it any time soon.
    - kaishiro 7y ago
      And a rad one at that - stayed there on the way through JFK a few weeks ago. If you’re feeling fancy you can even take a Blade helicopter into the city - they have a desk right at TWA.
    - greglindahl 7y ago
      It’s pretty beautiful inside.
- Cougher 7y ago
  "Equivalent of a 1960s building being knocked down today." I feel like you refuted your first sentence with this!
  - subroutine 7y ago
    A 1960s building is old, but 80 years isn't really enough to inspire awe; there are plenty of existing structures several hundred to several thousands of years old. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_known_surviving_buildings https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_known_survivi...
    - Cougher 7y ago
      "A 1960s building is old, but 80 years isn't really enough to inspire awe;" That's absolutely untrue. Plenty of buildings inspire awe immediately upon completion and plenty of them have gone through their entire life-cycle within a span of 60 years. Try Quarry Hill Flats for a start. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=quarry+hill+%2Bflats&t=opera&ia=images&iax=images https://duckduckgo.com/?q=quarry+hill+%2Bflats&t=opera&ia=im... "there are plenty of existing structures several hundred to several thousands of years old." This is a bizarrely obvious statement, like, who doesn't know this?
      - tialaramex 7y ago
        Also, we're not just talking about a "structure" like the pyramids or various ancient monuments, Penn Station had an _function_ it was needed for. Not many "several thousand year old" structures with a function exist except as museums now. There's a house somewhere that's been continuously inhabited for about a thousand years (Faroes maybe?) and a few of the forts or religious buildings still in use are older, but most structures this old are, like the pyramids, just a tourist attraction now. New York did not need another museum, it needed a railway station.
        chrisseaton 7y ago
        A friend of mine’s dorm room at college was a thousand years old.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
Zwi 7y ago
Interesting enough the glass floor was never removed during the demolition of the original Penn Station and can still be seen from the track level. Of course the floor has been tiled over and no longer functions as a light source, but it serves as a hidden reminder of the old Penn Station. https://ny.curbed.com/2018/10/23/18009496/penn-station-new-york-charles-mckim-vintage-remnants https://ny.curbed.com/2018/10/23/18009496/penn-station-new-y...
- yellowapple 7y ago
  Seems like some New Yorkers ought to petition to un-tile-over the floor and bring back the glass.
ehnto 7y ago
Lost craftsmanship and cost of construction has risen so much that some projects just couldn't be afforded anymore. My city once had an extensive rail network, it was torn out in favour of cars. Now that we want to put it back in, construction costs are so inflated we can't afford it.
- Cougher 7y ago
  If it's in America, it isn't a matter of not being able to afford it; we choose not to, instead prefering to waste it on military spending. Our country really could be great again if we chose to stop that madness.
  - jacquesm 7y ago
    You're about to engage in several major public works worth of military spending.
    - kazagistar 7y ago
      Just to emphasize, that's not like a train station worth. It's like a complete bullet train system between all major USA cities would cost less then the iraq war. That's the scale of the invisible, opportunity cost "infrastructure damage" cause by these wars.
    - Cougher 7y ago
      I'm totally fine with using public funding for projects that have lasting social good.

by lqet 7y ago

chrisseaton 7y ago

> the old Pennsylvania Station It wasn't that old! It was only built in 1910, and using modern techniques! It wasn't an ancient monument as you probably think it was, and it was only around for a few decades. Equivalent of a 1960s building being knocked down today.

inferiorhuman 7y ago
Equivalent of a 1960s building being knocked down today. There are plenty of buildings from the 60s I'd be sorry to see go. At the top of the list is the Marin County Civic Center and the TWA Flight Center.
- Benjammer 7y ago
  JetBlue turned the TWA center into a hotel, I don't think they plan on getting rid of it any time soon.
  - kaishiro 7y ago
    And a rad one at that - stayed there on the way through JFK a few weeks ago. If you’re feeling fancy you can even take a Blade helicopter into the city - they have a desk right at TWA.
  - greglindahl 7y ago
    It’s pretty beautiful inside.
Cougher 7y ago
"Equivalent of a 1960s building being knocked down today." I feel like you refuted your first sentence with this!
- subroutine 7y ago
  A 1960s building is old, but 80 years isn't really enough to inspire awe; there are plenty of existing structures several hundred to several thousands of years old. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_known_surviving_buildings https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_known_survivi...
  - Cougher 7y ago
    "A 1960s building is old, but 80 years isn't really enough to inspire awe;" That's absolutely untrue. Plenty of buildings inspire awe immediately upon completion and plenty of them have gone through their entire life-cycle within a span of 60 years. Try Quarry Hill Flats for a start. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=quarry+hill+%2Bflats&t=opera&ia=images&iax=images https://duckduckgo.com/?q=quarry+hill+%2Bflats&t=opera&ia=im... "there are plenty of existing structures several hundred to several thousands of years old." This is a bizarrely obvious statement, like, who doesn't know this?
    - tialaramex 7y ago
      Also, we're not just talking about a "structure" like the pyramids or various ancient monuments, Penn Station had an _function_ it was needed for. Not many "several thousand year old" structures with a function exist except as museums now. There's a house somewhere that's been continuously inhabited for about a thousand years (Faroes maybe?) and a few of the forts or religious buildings still in use are older, but most structures this old are, like the pyramids, just a tourist attraction now. New York did not need another museum, it needed a railway station.
      - chrisseaton 7y ago
        A friend of mine’s dorm room at college was a thousand years old.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

Zwi 7y ago

Interesting enough the glass floor was never removed during the demolition of the original Penn Station and can still be seen from the track level. Of course the floor has been tiled over and no longer functions as a light source, but it serves as a hidden reminder of the old Penn Station. https://ny.curbed.com/2018/10/23/18009496/penn-station-new-york-charles-mckim-vintage-remnants https://ny.curbed.com/2018/10/23/18009496/penn-station-new-y...

yellowapple 7y ago
Seems like some New Yorkers ought to petition to un-tile-over the floor and bring back the glass.

ehnto 7y ago

Lost craftsmanship and cost of construction has risen so much that some projects just couldn't be afforded anymore. My city once had an extensive rail network, it was torn out in favour of cars. Now that we want to put it back in, construction costs are so inflated we can't afford it.

Cougher 7y ago
If it's in America, it isn't a matter of not being able to afford it; we choose not to, instead prefering to waste it on military spending. Our country really could be great again if we chose to stop that madness.
- jacquesm 7y ago
  You're about to engage in several major public works worth of military spending.
  - kazagistar 7y ago
    Just to emphasize, that's not like a train station worth. It's like a complete bullet train system between all major USA cities would cost less then the iraq war. That's the scale of the invisible, opportunity cost "infrastructure damage" cause by these wars.
  - Cougher 7y ago
    I'm totally fine with using public funding for projects that have lasting social good.