PENN STATION — Copper staircases, a decommissioned coal-burning facility and original glass block tiles partially hidden under the current ceiling are little reminders of what Penn Station used to look like before it met with a wrecking ball in 1963.
Justin Rivers, 36, a Penn Station history buff, wants to share these hidden relics with his guided tours of the station, showcasing the structural remnants that usually go unnoticed.
Rivers, 36, said that while most aspects of the original station above ground were destroyed, a lot of the original building remained underground for structural purposes.
“They covered it up as best they could,” Rivers said. “[But] as the current station ages the old station kind of breaks through in ways that people don’t expect.”
Tamara Agins, who works at the Department of City Planning, co-leads the tours along with Rivers. She rounds the tour off by speaking about the present and future of Penn Station, he said. The tours are organized by the urban planning blog Untapped Cities.
The whole visit is aided by historical photographs that Rivers totes along that help orient those on the tour about how different parts of the original station overlap or differ from the new one.
Rivers spent years searching through archives and unearthing photographs of the original station in preparation for a two-man show that will launch on Off-Broadway this November called "The Eternal Space."
The show tracks the experiences of a construction worker turned photographer documenting Penn Station in the stages leading up to its demolition.
“I realized that of all the people who had tried to save Penn Station, the only people [who succeeded were] photographers because they captured it,” Rivers said.
In order to fund the production of the show, Rivers launched a Kickstarter campaign and to generous backers, he offered to give a tour of the station. They were a huge and unexpected success, he said.
There were commuters from Long Island and New Jersey who wanted the tour, there were off-duty train conductors passing by who wanted to know how to sign up.
“It surprises me to no end… You go through the station everyday, why would you come on this tour?” Rivers wondered at first. “I think people are interested in it because…they’re craving a new station and they want to know how the old one [worked].”
There are four tour dates scheduled for Sundays this fall: Sept 20 at 3:30, Oct. 25 at 1:30, Nov. 15 at 1:30 and Dec. 6 at 1:30. Tours cost $30 or $45 dollars. $45 tickets come with a drink at Track's Raw Bar and Grill at the end of the tour.
For more information about tickets visit Untapped Cities website.
