Penn Station gets shiny new ceiling in corner of LIRR concourse — as MTA and Hochul plan for more
The MTA shined new light onto a corner of Penn Station on Tuesday.
Officials unveiled a new 18-foot ceiling on the northeast corner of the train hub, part of its effort to expand the its northern end above Long Island Rail Road tracks.
The ceiling is covered in white tiled lights, brightening up an small area of the station.
The higher ceiling is adjacent to a Penn Station entrance at Seventh Ave. and W. 33rd St. that opened in late 2020.
“Hey, it looks less like s---,” remarked Jimmy Popp, 23, who waited for his LIRR train to Bellmore near the new ceiling.
The ceiling along the LIRR concourse is as low as 6-feet 8-inches in some areas thanks to clunky cross beams transit officials call “head-knockers.”
Crews are removing those beams and widening the corridor — which stretches between Seventh Ave. and Eighth Ave. beneath W. 33rd St. — from 30 feet to 57 feet. The work is scheduled to wrap next March, officials said.
Some Penn Station commuters are jaded by the changes they’ve seen to its concourses over the years.
“It’ll definitely look nice when it’s done, but it’s going to look like s--- a few years after that,” said Mike Vacchio, 41, as he waited for his LIRR train near the new ceiling.
Gov. Hochul hopes to redevelop all of Penn Station and expand it a block to the south. MTA officials plan to heighten the ceilings throughout the station, but do not plan to move Madison Square Garden, which has sat atop Penn Station since the 1960s.
