By By "Penn Station" Name in 2008?

[Amfleet]

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The new railroad hub planned to replace New York's aging Pennsylvania Station will be named in honor of the late U.S. Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, New York officials said on Thursday.
Governor George Pataki and Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the station, scheduled to open in 2008, would be named the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Station, in memory of the four-term Democratic senator who died on Wednesday at 76.

Full article can be found here. What's wrong with the name "Penn Station". That name has been around for decades (if not centuries) it should not be renamed "Daniel Patrick Moynihan Station". What a mouth full to say!!!!!!

 

[battalion51]

It always has and always will be Penn Station to me. It's like corporate sponsorship of sporting venues, Pro Player Stadium will always be Joe Robie Stadium to me.

 

[AlanB]

It's like corporate sponsorship of sporting venues, Pro Player Stadium will always be Joe Robie Stadium to me.

Not really. Corporate sponsors pay money, and not nearly enough, for the privilege of putting their name on a stadium.

This is being done to honor a man who dedicated his life to this country. Regardless of anyone's politics or whether or not you personally liked or disliked Senator Moynihan, the simple fact is that he dedicated his life to this country.

He spent 24 years in the Senate and before that served as an Ambassador to both the UN and India. He also served four Presidents from Kennedy to Ford in either a Cabinet or sub-Cabinet position, the first person to ever accomplish that feat. That means that he served this country for over 40 years in Government. Plus he spent 3 years in the Navy from 1944 to 1947.

Finally he also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2000, this Nation's highest civilian honor.

Additionally while Moynihan was a solid Democrat, it should be noted that a Republican Governor and a Republican Mayor are the ones recommending this honor. Moynihan was well respected by both parties for his intelligence and his honor.

Finally, it's largely thanks to Senator Moynihan and his efforts, that we are going to be able to convert the post office into a new Penn Station. Without Senator Moynihan, we would probably be stuck with the current Penn Station for many more years to come.

That's vastly different than Pepsi spending a couple of thousand to get their name in lights.

Besides, I'm sure that many people will still refer to the station as Penn station. Especially since NJT and the LIRR will still occupy the current facility. Amtrak will use the reconfigured Farley Post Office which will then be renamed "Daniel Patrick Moynihan Station" in his honor, an honor that I think that he's earned.

By the way it should be noted, that it's an honor he didn't want. Several people tried to name it in his honor a few years ago, while the whole plan was still under discussion. He wouldn't let them. It’s only now that he’s gone and no longer able to protest, that they were able to name it after him.

Ps. B51, I know that you were just trying to make a simple comparison to explain why you would refer to Penn Station as "Penn Station". In fact I'll probably continue to call it Penn Station forever too. However I also wanted you to know why it wasn't really a fair comparison. I'm not trying to beat you up over it.

Additionally I wanted Amfleet to understand the significance of this honor.

Anyone who wants to read a little history about Senator Moynihan can check out this page from 1010 WINS.com.

 

[Superliner Diner]

As was mentioned earlier, new names don't always stick. The transportation center that sits in Asbury Park and functions as its NJ TRANSIT bus/train station was named after Congressman James Howard, but nobody ever calls it that.

The Secaucus Transfer station, which should open to limited weekend use this September was named in honor of then-retiring US Senator Frank Lautenburg. Frank has since come out of retirement and is once again our Senator. But one never sees his name referred to when talking about the station.

Metropark was named after US Senator Harrison Williams. His name was stripped from the station name when he was endicted in the Abscam scandal years ago. But even when his name was associated with it, nobody called it "Williams Station".

New Yorkers are the heartiest bunch of all, but tradition will win over the deserved respect for the just departed Senator Moynihan. In theory, Penn Station itself died in the 1960's when the wrecking ball destroyed it. Yet we still call the underground remains that they have been passing off as a station for the past four decades "Penn Station". The name will continue to stick, even when they move the Amtrak portion across Eighth Avenue to what was the Farley Post Office building. It's the same platforms below that will be used, just a different place to access them.

And Alan, if the Moynihan name sticks, will they change the station code to NYM?

 

[PRR 60]

There is some precedent with New York naming major transportation facilities after political figures and having those names stick. You would never hear any New Yorkers today talk of Municipal Airport or Idlewild, but at one time those were the names of New York City’s airports.

The original New York Municipal Airport, after two months of operation, was renamed New York Municipal Airport - LaGuardia Field in 1939. Fiorello H. LaGuardia was the flamboyant mayor of New York who was instrumental in the construction of the airport. Mayor LaGuardia was still serving as mayor when his name was added, an interesting comment on his healthy and well-known ego. In 1947, the Port Authority, who leased and operated the facility, changed the name to LaGuardia Airport; the name we all know and love today.

New York’s Idlewild Airport was opened in 1948 on the site of the former Idlewild Golf Course. On December 24, 1963, one month after the assassination of President Kennedy, the name of the airport was changed to John F. Kennedy International Airport. One interesting aspect of the name change to JFK was the change of the official airport identifier code. Idlewild had been assigned the code IDL. In a virtually unprecedented action, the official code was changed to JFK. I am not aware of any other cases where an airport has been able to change its official code. Even Chicago O'Hare International Airport, either the busiest or one of the busiest in the world (depending on what you count), still retains the ORD airport code of the prior airport on the site, ORcharD Field.

(added later) Let me make one correction to the history of Idlewild. Although everybody called the airport Idlewild, the "official" name, as dedicated, was New York International Airport.

 

[tp49]

I had the pleasure of talking to Pat Moynihan in 1996 when he proposed the Farley Building become the new Amtrak Station. Wonderful, brilliant man and he will be missed. Funny thing is back then someone mentioned to him that they should name the Farley Building after him, but he thought that Farley's (a labor activist) name should remain on the building. Thankfully his wife agreed to allow the new portion of the station to be named in his honor. Whether it will stick as JFK airport has remains to be seen but it is a fitting honor for the man who really championed this project.

 

[AlanB]

I had the pleasure of talking to Pat Moynihan in 1996 when he proposed the Farley Building become the new Amtrak Station.  Wonderful, brilliant man and he will be missed.  

Cool, that's a moment that I'm sure you'll treasure for years to come. He will indeed be missed.

Funny thing is back then someone mentioned to him that they should name the Farley Building after him, but he thought that Farley's  (a labor activist) name should remain on the building.  

As I had mentioned in my post too, he didn't want the honor of the station being named for him (at least while he was alive). He was very modest about his accomplishments and his distinguished service for this country.

Yet in this day and age, when you have politicians on both sides of the isle who respect a person and have kind words for them, you know that this is indeed a special person. It's not all that often that both parties hold any one person in high respect.

Thankfully his wife agreed to allow the new portion of the station to be named in his honor.  Whether it will stick as JFK airport has remains to be seen but it is a fitting honor for the man who really championed this project.

Agreed. It's fitting for both reasons that I touched upon before. One, his long and distinguished service for this country. Two, since it was largely his doing that made the deal possible for the post office to be converted to a train station.

 

[Viewliner]

Why not just name a concourse after him, like call the main concourse the "Moynihan Concourse" it would still be a fitting tribute, but avoid confusion.

I'll always call it Penn Station, like I'll always Call Newark Liberty Airport, Newark Airport, or Newark International.

 

[AlanB]

Why not just name a concourse after him, like call the main concourse the "Moynihan Concourse" it would still be a fitting tribute, but avoid confusion.

Well that's what they are technically doing anyhow.

They are not naming the existing quasi-belowground station that Amtrak, NJT, and the LIRR currently use after Senator Moynihan. So in reality NJT and LIRR passengers would still be using Penn Station to catch their trains, as they will continue to use the current station.

They are naming the Post Office building, which will be converted into a new Amtrak station named after Senator Moynihan. Therefore only Amtrak passengers would in effect be using the facility named "Daniel Patrick Moynihan Station."

Of course it’s anybody’s guess as to which name will stick as the overall name of the entire facility.

Plus as I mentioned before, if it were not for the Senator there would be no conversion of the Post Office to a new station anyhow. He's the man who largely pushed that entire project thru. He even resurrected the deal after the 9/11 tragedy had basically killed the project.

Besides after his distinguished career for this country, he deserves the honor that this accords him.

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

Thanks, Alan and others, for tying the history, etc, altogether for us on this. It was a shocker to me, too, when I first read it....but it starts to make sense when you think about it....guess we can get used to it.

It will be interesting to see if the name really takes hold and sticks.

Remember, though I do not live there, I have oh so many years of habit to break by learning to stop calling it Penn Station.