Madison Square Garden staying on top of Penn Station is the perfect reflection of where this nation's headed. The U.S. used to be bold. Now, it's risk averse. As I alluded to back in 2013, it was the arena that needed to go, not Amtrak spending a lot of money on an old post office building that nearly bankrupted it earlier this century.
The fact that James Dolan (aka the real villain in this saga) has a friend in the White House makes this entire deal rotten. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the monstrosity hovering over the current Penn Station is actually the fourth iteration of MSG--in no way, historic--so, Dolan could have found another area in Manhattan but he chooses not to.
Going back to Amtrak's relocation, the fact that it felt the need to move a block or two west is telling. The phrase "a temple to modern mediocrity" shouldn't just apply to both the Moynihan Train Hall nor the remodeled Penn Station but to America as a whole. The State of New York isn't getting off scot-free either. Just because it refuses to participate in the overhaul doesn't mean its hands are clean. Truthfully, its previous proposals were no better as they too would have kept the arena on top of the station. Grassroots efforts to separate MSG from Penn were ignored. Whatever goodwill "Train Daddy" has after being unceremoniously kicked to the curb by then-Governor Andrew Cuomo will be tarnished by this project.
