Penn Station Redux: Preservation of the Farley Post Office

After an extensive lineup of meetings with public officials, developers, preservationists, and community members, this group truly understood the profound complexity of our studio problem. We undertook an intensive studio charrette to better develop an independent preservation perspective, which culminated in a design guidelines booklet. This document is a revision and expansion of this original charrette product and is our final recommendation for the studio problem: Amidst a number of different urban pressures, what does one do with the near-empty Farley Post Office, a New York City Historic Landmark designed by McKim, Mead, & White.

We have identified distinct issues that arise from this problem and then out of those issues, we derive an analysis meant to express a preservation stance, as opposed to a developer's or planner's. The indispensable emphasis on preservation is diluted unless it is called out and distinguished, although we do acknowledge the overlap between these different positions.

We begin with the history of the building and its significance, which includes its own architectural importance, a historical connection to the demolished Pennsylvania Station, and a larger connection to what we call "The Beaux Arts City" that emerged around Penn Station. We also address the role that the ghost of McKim, Mead, & White's Pennsylvania Station plays in proposals for the future of the Farley Post Office. We follow with an explanation of the raison d'etre for the current interest in the Farley, which includes zoning changes, facilities shifts by the U.S. Postal Service, and a strained public transportation system. Once this important history is illuminated, a detailed analysis of the formal composition of Farley and an assessment of historic fabric is included.

The next section is on the relationship between public and private interest, something that we call out as being a particularly important issue to explore in light of the proposed mixed uses of the complex. Here we explore use transitions and tenant signage, including appropriate designs. The next section tackles the issue of Madison Square Garden (MSG), both its important cultural and architectural history and the institution's current interest in occupying the Farley Annex. Following the history we offer design schemes for the insertion of Madison Square Garden into Farley and uses for the existing MSG building. Beyond MSG, we offer another possibility for the Farley complex yet to be considered publicly: a Manhattan location for the Dia Art Foundation. For all of our design schemes, instead of a final design, we suggest design possibilities and alternatives that address the problem through a preservation lens. Our interest is not only in safeguarding the historic Farley Post Office, but also to provide New York City with an outstanding work of public architecture, and we hope our renderings reflect this.

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Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation Columbia University 1172 Amsterdam Avenue New York, New York 10027