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Why is New York Penn Station so ugly and drab compared to Grand Central even though it’s newer? Even the style of decoration is entirely different and much rich
by pavlov 2y ago
Why is New York Penn Station so ugly and drab compared to Grand Central even though it’s newer? Even the style of decoration is entirely different and much richer on the older and larger building.
Could it simply be a question of society’s priorities and resourcing? Nah. After all the Americans were a fairly primitive culture primarily known for hamburgers and baseball. Most likely Grand Central was built by aliens or an older Native American culture.
- philwelch 2y agoThe obvious conclusion would be that Penn Station was built during a period of cultural decline, which turns out to be both true and interesting.
- pavlov 2y agoIndeed. For some reason this obvious conclusion doesn't satisfy the pyramid theorists, even though ancient Egypt's many periods of cultural decline and later resurgence are well documented.
- leetcrew 2y agothe economic case is more compelling in this example. grand central is still largely the same structure that was built in 1910 at the peak of rail's dominance. penn station was demolished and rebuilt to sell air rights during a sharp decline of intercity rail ridership. I guess demolishing an iconic building could itself be evidence for cultural decline, but stuff like TWA flight center was being built at the same time. the dollars followed the passengers.