34th Street Subway/ Penn Station

Like many NYCTA stations, this one needs cleaning. They should put up signs regarding cleanliness like litter and public urination. No one wants to smell that. Close to movie theater and restaurants.

There is a reason why they call it a hub… You can go to so many different places (or trains) without ever seeing sunlight (or moonlight. Since I was coming here as a regular (some year’s back) I was always amazed at the fact that they are always making improvements to the stores or just brightening the place… It has come a long way in 30 years and in my opinion all good.
I truly don’t believe that it’s hard to navigate this place with all the signage around and I was never bashful as to ask someone for directions either.
Penn Station is BIG and BRIGHT… They are currently working to modernize all the stores (and in my opinion, doing a good job.) Besides being a hub for the rail system, it is one giant shopping mall.
The next time you land in Penn Station on your way to another destination, make sure that you leave yourself enough time to explore.

This station is a very wide assembly of many stations including a A/​C/​E subway, the NJ Transit, the Amtrak, the ongoing construction for the new Moynihan station & the connecting tunnels between them all. Overall, it works, the huge amount of ongoing construction shows its future is bright as Hudson Yards draws an ever growing number to this neighborhood.

Busy as heck. The epicenter of the subway — many lines run here.
Get your metrocard ready and go!

Amtrak station is really nice. Food vendors are vastly improving. Lots of choices for a busy traveller. I felt safe as did my small children and wife.

I don’t take the LIRR often. for a number of reasons.
1) Subway offers more chances to people watch. lol
2) Except for the City Ticket… hella expensive to travel.
3) I don’t really have reason to. as I prefer to drive anyway
Anyway, my friend and I went to the city today via the LIRR (My first time in like 2 years. legit. haha), and I must say, I do miss the comfortable seats. and not having to worry about some train cars not having a/​c. and the ride from Bayside to Manhattan was so fast! Not bad. I have a new mode of transportation on weekends! Yay!

A labyrinth of underground tunnels, passages, mezzanines to NYC subways, LIRR, Amtrak and NJ Transit as I always end up being lost when catching the A train and end up on the LIRR waiting area. This station is a MAJOR hub for mass transit. Phil H. described it best like a busy ant farm. It is always non-​stop busy of passengers hustle and bustle catching their trains to their destinations. Parents must be «constant vigilance» with their small children in holding hands as you can be easily separated and possibly stampede lost in the shuffle of the crowd. Underground shops, fast food and cafes are plenty available on the LIRR level.
There is a heavy military and NYPD police presence for terrorism alert.

I’ve been frequenting New York for the last 5 years and living in NYC for the last 2 years. And I have to give credit where credit is due! Penn Station is so much better! They have slowly rid themselves of all the crappy food vendors and replaced them with better ones! They also have made sure that healthier options are more readily available. Now, if they could just upgrade the dated train system! Lol!

Grumpy travelers. Grumpu staff. Bums sleeping in every corner. Hey, this is NYC. Three stars for the sitting area.

Its’ always always super crowded but atleast the live music makes up for it.
Expect some delays at Penn but also expect some entertainments.

One of the busiest subway stations in NYC. Always something happening here. People come from all over to come to NYC or the airports. Usually can find musicians playing in the hallways. Plenty of food and beer in the main corridor. Also don’t be afraid to ask for directions. It can be very confusing and most people have a hard time reading the NYC subway map.

Always insanely packed with grumpy commuters. 123 and ACE lines both connect here so pretty convenient train wise. Resturaunt a like Friday’s and Nathan’s are located inside plenty of options while waiting for your train.

The bagels at the Starbucks here are so hard, I had to eat one half at a time just so I could bite through and so not rip any more skin on the top of my mouth.

As far as transit centers go, this one does the job even though a lot of it doesn’t make sense. It’s amazing when you consider that this station is an entire world build beneath a huge auditorium and numerous skyscrapers.
You can see where MTA construction lead way to AMTRAK. It’s like walking through a sewer and then seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Okay, it’s not that bad (the NYC subway system is hardly a sewer), but hopefully that helps you get the picture.
All paths lead to 34^th Street. Unfortunately, once you pop your head above the surface it’s easy to get discombobulated. Yay for Google Maps.

It’s like being in an ant farm. Like watching them in that glass ones we had as kids and watching all the ants scurry through the tunnels they build. That is what if feels like when underground at Penn Station when I head in here tranferring from another train line, Amtrak or the LIRR to go uptown or downtown on the subways. People always everywhere in this place and the subway platforms are always busy even after midnight. Some real wackos wandering around here at times too.
I saw some old pictures of what Penn Station used to look like. It was beautiful and majestic. Looked better than Grand Central. Now I feel like one of the mole people when here.
At least they put up the new digital signage letting us know what times the trains and subways are arriving. The subway platforms aren’t the cleanest but I have seen worse. Serves it’s purpose.

If Times Square is the heartbeat of the city, Penn Station must be the excretory system… not the friendliest of analogies but everyone is coming and going and it is the central hub for train traffic in the city.
Despite its many faults, Penn has a certain charm about it. Whether you are waiting for the 4 a.m. drunk train back to Long Island or find yourself as a human pinball during rush hours, you are surrounded by the things that make Penn Station one-​of-​a-​kind.
Police and military presence keep order in check, buskers either entertain you with amazing songs, or really bad covers, and yeah, you can actually enjoy a decently priced beer with your pizza while waiting for trains.
You will join the masses who look like chickens in the rain with you neck tilted upwards to one of the train time boards. As soon as a track is listed during rush hour, if it’s not yours, prepare to be run to the ground in the frenzy. If it is yours, have fun playing Red Rover knocking everyone over to be the first to grab a seat on your train. If you’re traveling with a lot of bags and suitcases prepare to receive numerous death stares and do not even think your luggage gets its own seat, because it doesn’t.
There are many annoying things about Penn Station, but it more has to deal with the crowds then anything Penn Station could really curtail. It’s just swarms of people hastily walking, or walking excruciatingly slow in every direction. The LIRR is an expensive train and people get very angry if they miss their train, so if they’re running while you’re lollygagging around do them the courtesy of staying to the side or to a semi-​designated shoulder. It helps. We can all make our experience at good ‘ol Penn a bit better if we make a conscious effort.

What makes Penn Station such an abomination today is the knowledge of knowing what a splendid place it once was before the original structure was demolished in 1963. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, check out the Penn Station Wikipedia page or just Google it. Somewhere in the universe lies Hell, and in Hell lie those souls who thought destroying such a beautiful piece of architecture was a good idea. I’d like to think that’s hyperbole, but alas, that is how I truly feel.
Today, Penn Station and Hell join forces in a dark, underground labyrinth of tunnels and narrow corridors, low ceilings, seedy businesses, and even seedier lost souls, all wandering around like zombies, while the faint smell of piss lingers throughout its many pockets and passageways. It’s an awful place to be; a place that should only be used for the sole function of getting from one place to another. Oh, there’s always talk about returning Penn Station to its former glory by converting the Farley Post Office across the street, but alas, this seems to be a dream that will forever go unrealized.
And perhaps that’s not a bad thing. Perhaps the most dutiful purpose that today’s Penn Station can serve is to stand as a stark reminder of the unforgivable crime that was committed here in 1963; a reminder that Hell awaits to claim those souls who would seek to destroy our beautiful structures.

Why do I have to go down this huge tunnel to get to the train…
Who the hell designed this place.
Feel like cattle during rush hour walking up and down that tunnel into the slaughterhouse that is. the tracks of the MTA.
When you do get on the platform, going around the side of the stairs is a dangerous adventure with your life. When you make it around the side stairs of the platform, you are then amazed at how you stayed alive and didn’t fall off the tracks.

This is Grand Central’s little ghetto cousin. For one thing, it’s much dirtier and not nearly as nice. You also have to deal with all those annoying Long Islanders (the ones who act like tourists, that is), particularly when they’ve had way too much to drink. The bathrooms are legend in their awfulness & my husband told me of eating from a Roy Rogers here and getting sick due to undercooked chicken.
The upside is they have the city’s only Krispy Kreme doughnut shop & a Tim Horton’s. They also have the Amtrak trains & NJ Transit along with a PATH station.
Still, this is not the station you want to hang out in if you want to see the pretty architecture or expensive stores. Seating is also impossible to find & the police presence could be better, though it’s apparently much improved from 10 years ago.

Its ok, because its a major transport hub. But Grand Central Station is so much nicer (feel sorry for those people living on Long Island LOL).
You could make this place a little nicer while waiting for your train if you try to go into the Acela Lounge (if you’re dressed decently, you won’t get a second look most of the time).
Some of the cafes make for some good people-​watching.
Very easy to get lost inside the tunnels here so beware: D