See a world-famous architectural firm’s plan to revamp this blighted NYC transit hub with a $10B fix
One of the world’s most respected architectural firms wants to give a run-down New York City transit hub a $10 billion facelift.
A pair of glittery renderings is out for a proposal to reconstruct Midtown’s Port Authority Bus Terminal, with the project being designed by Pritzker-winning Lord Norman Foster’s firm, Foster + Partners.
The firm is famed for the HSBC Building in Hong Kong’s financial hub and the eye-catching Hearst Tower in New York.
A total 180 from the current design, they propose a facade of frosted glass with fluting details, floor-to-ceiling windows and a broad, multi-story, open indoor atrium at the center.
The new version of the long-in-the-works plan to replace the 73-year-old structure — which is the busiest bus terminal in the world — include the 2.1 million-square-foot main building with street-level retail and a central main entrance, as well as a separate storage and staging building, plus new ramps leading directly into and out of the Lincoln Tunnel.
Construction is expected to occur in phases, and will require the permanent closure of a portion of West 41st Street between Eighth and Ninth avenues.
A temporary terminal and new ramps are set to be completed in 2028, and the entire project is slated for completion in 2032.
In a press release, officials both sang the revised plan’s praises and colorfully slammed the existing building as a monstrosity, not unlike how locals had long referred to Penn Station following the demolition of its first iteration.
“Today we’re taking a major step forward to transform what is the worst infrastructure eyesore in the nation and replace it with a best-in-class facility …The new bus terminal will be an inspiring gateway to the city that commuters will actually look forward to using, and that will serve also as an attractive asset to the surrounding community,” said Port Authority Executive Director Rick Cotton, not mincing words in regards to the current terminal’s nightmarish reputation.
“The crumbling Midtown Bus Terminal is a living relic of the all-too-often disregarded interests of the commuters who rely on it,” US Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., of New Jersey, bluntly said. “This announcement today is an important step towards the culmination to a shining new terminal in New York that all our neighbors can use with ease and pride. We’ve sure all waited long enough.”
