[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 104 (Friday, June 23, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9005-S9006]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




PENNSYLVANIA STATION AND THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY SYSTEM DESIGNATION ACT OF 
                                  1995

 Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, last night the Senate passed the 
National Highway System legislation, and in so doing determined the 
future of our Nation's intermodal infrastructure. New York has an 
important role in an efficient national intermodal system.
  A month ago I rose before the Senate to remark how pleased I was that 
the conference report for the Department of Defense supplemental 
appropriations bill included an appropriation of $21.5 million for 
capital improvements associated with safety-related emergency repairs 
to Pennsylvania Station in New York City. The station is the busiest 
intermodal station in the Nation, with almost 40 percent of Amtrak's 
passengers nationwide passing through every day. It is the linchpin for 
intermodal travel in the United States.
  Unfortunately, it is also the most decrepit of the Northeast corridor 
stations, others of which, such as Washington DC's own Union Station, 
have been renovated with Federal grants. Today, Pennsylvania Station 
handles almost 500,000 riders daily in a subterranean complex that 
demands improvement. According to the New York City Fire Commissioner, 
there have been nine major fires at the station since 1987. Luckily, 
these fires have occurred at off-hours. As it stands, the

[[Page S9006]]

station could not cope with an emergency when it is crowded with the 
42,000 souls who pass through every workday between 8 and 9 a.m. In 
addition, structural steel in the station has shown its age and needs 
immediate repair. And these are just the most pressing needs.
  There is also a need to add capacity as ridership grows. The station, 
designed in 1963, will not be able to accommodate the growing volume of 
people. It is projected that by the year 2005, New Jersey Transit 
ridership will increase 44 percent, Amtrak, 26 percent, and the Long 
Island Railroad, 9 percent. If we do not act now, pedestrian gridlock 
will shut us down in 10 years.
  Happily, there is a redevelopment plan to change things for the 
better, a $315 million project to renovate the existing station in the 
only way possible: across the street into a portion of the neighboring 
historic James A. Farley Post Office. The plan will nearly double the 
access to the station's platforms, which lie far below street level 
beneath both buildings. Moreover, there is a financing plan in place 
that will accomplish this with $100 million from the Federal 
Government--$31.5 million has already been appropriated--$100 million 
from the State and city, and $115 million from a combination of 
historic tax credits, bonds supported by revenue from the project's 
retail component, and building shell improvements by the Postal 
Service, owner of the James A. Farley Building. Governor Pataki of New 
York and Mayor Giuliani of New York City strongly support the project 
and have made available funding in their budgets in accordance with a 
memorandum of agreement signed in August 1994.
  Now, $26\1/2\ million can be used immediately for pressing safety 
repairs at the existing station, in the first step of the overall 
redevelopment effort. These are the first Federal funds into the 
project that will actually go toward construction, and they will count 
towards the Federal share of the $315 million project to transform the 
station into a complex capable of safely handling the crowds that have 
made Pennsylvania Station the Nation's busiest intermodal facility. The 
authorization approved in this bill for the remaining Federal share of 
the project will assure the viability of Pennsylvania Station into the 
21st century.

                          ____________________