Taxi to NYP

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Everydaymatters

Everydaymatters

Engineer
Joined
May 15, 2006
Messages
3,406
Location
Just North of Normal, Illinois
I can't find it now, but in the past couple of days someone posted about a taxi to New York Penn dropping him off at a door that had only stairs and an escalator.

To avoid that, where should we ask the driver to drop us off?
 
I'm the poster you mentioned. It was the 8th Avenue entrance where I was dropped off. I believe I should have told the driver I wanted the 7th Avenue entrance had I known that before getting to NYC. I hope someone else will confirm this.
 
There are two taxi stands at Penn Station operated by the neighborhood business improvement district, The 34th Street Partnership. The one I have used on both of my prior trips to NYC I believe is the Seventh Avenue entrance Dakota 400 referred to and listed on the Jason Gibbs site without any specificity.

It is recognizable by an all-weather translucent awning which extends on to the plaza from the building. That is the stand I would tell a cab driver (and have) to take me to. It is staffed seven days a week and each of the attendants I have encountered has practically bent over backwards for me in assistance. They will (or should) ask you what train you're departing on and if you need Red Cap assistance. If so, they will place a call to the Red Cap desk to summon an agent. It may take awhile for one to show up, particularly during peak hours, so arrive early and be patient. The stand attendant may have to call a second time.

I don't think it would matter one way or another, but there seems to be a bit of a disconnect between the taxi stand attendant requests and the Red Cap desk (in a "you're not the boss of us" sort of way). But in any case I have yet had to navigate the Penn Station maze on my own when departing NYP. And I must say, the Red Cap I had in January of 2016 was one of the best RC services I've ever had. After bringing my bags into the station, he told me to go and get something to eat if I wanted and to meet me at the Red Cap desk at a certain time. Then he breezed me through the waiting area, told me to wait right there and that he would come back to take me to the train after he assisted someone else. It all worked like clockwork and was very refreshing, considering the zoo that is Penn Station and the travel mishaps which can occur in New York for the unwary visitor.

The 'visitor services' page for 34SP:

http://www.34thstreet.org/bid-programs/visitor_services.html
 
Everydaymatters said:
I use a walker. I probably should have said that earlier. Is there any place to get dropped of at a door? I can do the walk, but easier, of course, if I don't have to.
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What I would do is go to the aforementioned taxi stand and request wheelchair assistance. NYP is, of course, all underground so the primary method of getting there is via escalator, and these aren't the wide ones which exist in most public places, including transit stations, where one can stand on the right and still have enough room for those who are walking to do so to the left. They are very narrow and are best traversed without an assistive device.

I know how this works, as on my last trip to NYC the request for Red Cap assistance was misunderstood and the reason it took so long for the eventual response was because the Red Cap assisting me thought I needed wheelchair assistance so that when he showed up, it was with a high-back transport chair and a four-wheel luggage cart (normally the Red Caps at NYP use hand trucks for luggage transport). He apologized but was also relieved that he didn't have to wrangle a passenger and luggage at the same time. We went in the door most accessible and into the freight elevator and down into the platform level of the station. I thought it was neat to see the inner workings of New York Penn, but it could be unnerving to someone who wasn't expecting it and thought they might be heading off into somewhere they might not ever be seen again.

Penn Station is challenging to navigate for the fully ambulatory, as can be found by the numerous threads on the subject here. So I would not be shy or proud about asking for assistance and using a wheelchair. Walks are long from the street and with the general crush of people it's easy to become confused or prey for someone who might be looking to take advantage of someone else's situation. Using the Red Cap services to their fullest extent will take that burden off your shoulders and allow you to focus on getting to and on the train without being too frazzled.
 
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Interesting and appreciated comments, but the question in my mind remains, and probably the OP's as well, where's the entrance with the elevator? Is it at the 7th Street entrance to the Station? And, if not, where is an elevator to the Concourse level?
 
7th avenue is the best bet, but since most Amtrak activity is a hike from there, the suggestion of the Red Cap is probably a good idea. When my mother was alive, I often took her to other cities via the train, and she walked well with a walker, but the distances are pretty long. Having someone meet us with a chair was a big help.There are a few different entrances with elevators down, but that one is the one that would be most accessible to someone arriving by cab and not walking a distance.
 
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I think there is an elevator at the 7th Avenue NJT entrance, but it is quite a walk from there to the Club Acela. The one time I took a cab to NYP, that is where the cab dropped me (without any request).
 
It is pretty much at the wrong end of the station from the CA, that's why I suggested the red cap/wheelchair assist. Even when i brought my mom in via the LIRR I used to get a chair to bring her to the Club for waiting and boarding.
 
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Because the layout of NYP is such a SNAFU (original meaning), I don't see why anyone would want to schlep luggage without assistance, unless they were fully willing and able to use the escalators. It seems that some are thinking that elevators are conveniently located in the station when they are not. If one has to walk halfway across the building to find an elevator and then halfway across again to get where they want to go after they step off, it somewhat defeats the purpose of using them in the first place.
 
Dakota 400 said:
Interesting and appreciated comments, but the question in my mind remains, and probably the OP's as well, where's the entrance with the elevator? Is it at the 7th Street entrance to the Station? And, if not, where is an elevator to the Concourse level?
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pennyk said:
I think there is an elevator at the 7th Avenue NJT entrance, but it is quite a walk from there to the Club Acela. The one time I took a cab to NYP, that is where the cab dropped me (without any request).
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That would be the one. 7th Ave and 31st. However, it is about almost as far from Amtrak activity as you can get. Amtrak activity occurs on the 8th Ave side.

There is a convoluted route you can use if you want to use an elevator to the concourse on the 8th Ave side, but I don't recommend it. You can hop out on 8th and 31st or 8th and 33rd and use the ramps that lead to the new Farley Concourse. From there, you can take an elevator on track 7/8 from the new facility to track level. This will put you at the west end of track 7/8. You can walk to the middle of 7/8 and use that elevator to ascend to the main concourse. It will put you right close to the lounge and ticket windows.

Again, I don't necessarily recommend this route for you but I'm throwing it out there for those who may be up to the challenge or looking for new routing.
 
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This will be my first time at NYP and I appreciate all of you helping out.

If we take the elevator at 7th Ave. and 31st street, what floor do we get off at to go to the Amtrak waiting room? We can't use the CA because we are taking a train that does not have sleepers and BC doesn't qualify us to use it.

Also, how far is the walk from the elevator to the waiting room?
 
Since most of the Amtrak activity is towards 8th Avenue, it is most of the distance from 7th to 8th Avenue. I still recommend asking for wheelchair assistance. It may take a while to get someone, but it is a good idea nonetheless Sometimes people on this board have one day C/A passes that they are not using before expiration, and offer them to other members, perhaps someone out there will respond. The regular passenger waiting area is ok, C/A can be a bit crowded, but is still a step up. You will definitely want a red cap to take you down to the train, set it up in advance when you get there, don't wait till they call the train..
 
PVD said:
Since most of the Amtrak activity is towards 8th Avenue, it is most of the distance from 7th to 8th Avenue. I still recommend asking for wheelchair assistance. It may take a while to get someone, but it is a good idea nonetheless Sometimes people on this board have one day C/A passes that they are not using before expiration, and offer them to other members, perhaps someone out there will respond. The regular passenger waiting area is ok, C/A can be a bit crowded, but is still a step up. You will definitely want a red cap to take you down to the train, set it up in advance when you get there, don't wait till they call the train..
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I would second this. If you secure a Red Cap from the taxi stand, with the wheelchair assistance as suggested, they will have your back and ensure that you get to the platform and on the train. They will most likely have you wait in a separate area which they feel is safe and which they can easily access you and your luggage. In a sense, you will become a priority passenger. This is far better than trying to navigate your way among the masses on your own.

If you've never been to Pennsylvania Station before, it can be a confusing place. It's busy, usually crowded, and human traffic moves every which way. As the old line goes, "New Yorkers are not rude; we're just in a hurry!" There are other threads here which mention tidbits such as people stepping over first responders attending to someone who had a mishap near an escalator just to get to the train they didn't want to miss. This is the type of behavior which one may encounter.

I've used the elevators in Chicago Union Station, PHL's 30th Street Station, and Washington Union Station. I could tell anyone how to get to them in each of those locales; I couldn't begin to tell someone where the elevators are in Penn Station---they are that inconspicuous to the unfamiliar user.

This is not the occasion to be overconfident in one's abilities or to assert one's independence. New York is a dynamic, fun place but it's not for the faint of heart traveler and presents challenges even for those who are not mobility challenged. There are risks which may not be obvious to the casual visitor. As I was chatting with the taxi stand attendant at the end of my trip last year, I made a casual remark about the changes in Penn Station from my previous visits to which he responded "Hmmph...'Homeless Station' is what it is." He's not wrong. While most of the non-travelers are harmless, they are distracting (on purpose) and often near entrances which are already a bottleneck. Having a professional who knows the area like the back of their hand and can guide you through the confusion can be invaluable, particularly at the end of a trip in which you may not be at your most refreshed. I can't recommend it enough.
 
Let's make this easier for Everydaymatters, shall we? I'll use pictures from the helpful (but slightly outdated) Unofficial Guide to New York Penn Station website.

Below is a diagram of the street level of NYP. As you can see, the elevators are mostly on the 7th Ave side. As such, you'll have to walk almost a city block to reach the Amtrak side of the station. This is the upper concourse:

penn_station_upper.png


What most people are suggesting is use the entrance nestled in the middle of the block between 2 Penn Plaza and Madison Square Garden. Assistance is usually found there and there is an elevator. You will still have to walk almost half a block to reach the Amtrak waiting area but red caps are generally available in this area and wheelchairs can be summoned. This is pictured below:

penn_station_street.png


My suggestion involves using the expanded West End concourse. It now reaches from 20 track to 5 track. As you can see, that is on the 8th Ave side. There are ramps available from the old Post office building to the concourse. However, you'd still have to descend to track level, walk to the middle of the platform and use the elevator that puts you directly in the Amtrak concourse, as the elevator on 7/8 is the only one that reaches the Amtrak concourse and lower level concourse..

penn_station_lower.png
 
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Those static diagrams can be hard for irregular passengers to understand.

This is what NYP looks like in person...




Maybe the best option is to board somewhere else. Anywhere else, actually. NYP is the most convoluted clusterfork of a station I've ever seen. After a while you get the feeling that it might be an abandoned experiment involving intentional confusion and disorientation.
 
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Jamess,

That is the convoluted routing I was referring to. It does not lead you to the Amtrak level. It leads you to the LIRR level as indicated by the pictures of the central concourse. The Amtrak concourse is one level above and you would either need the elevator by track 7/8 or the elevator that ultimately services the entrance between MSG and Penn Plaza.
 
And it is still a good hike. Hate to be a broken record, but use the redcap and wheelchair. For people who have no problem walking the stairs (with big bags) or the escalators are ok, and much closer.
 
We're leaving tomorrow morning and I still don't "get it". Looking at the map above, what about the entrance between Madison Square Garden and Penn Station? With the walker, I can walk about 3/4 of a block. Maybe a little more.

Hate to admit it, but I was up in the middle of the night trying to figure this out. :wacko:
 
The old drop off entrance usually still works, and you can usually be dropped mid block on 33rd or 31st street and walk down to it. The reason people weren't pushing that was probably concern over dragging luggage.
 

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