Everyone agrees that New York's Penn Station is an utter disaster and embarrassment to the city. The depot is ugly, cramped, dark, dangerous, difficult to navigate, and plagued by train delays. Are we capable of building a world-class station for a world-class city? Should we leave Madison Square Garden in place and add a glass wall to the station on 8th Avenue? Should we rebuild the original Beaux-Arts station? Is there a way to improve train traffic and passenger circulation?
In partnership with Rebuild Penn Station: a project of the National Civic Art Society, Agora presents "The Future of Penn Station," an evening addressing various proposals to alleviate these problems. We hope you will join us for this rich conversation. A reception will follow.
Tickets are $7 in advance, $10 at the door. Tickets may be purchased HERE.
DATE AND TIME
Wednesday October 24, 2018
7:00 PM
LOCATION
W83 Ministry Center
150 West 83rd Street
New York, NY 10024
PANEL OF SPEAKERS
Kevin Baker is a New York-based writer who is the author of numerous fiction and non-fiction books, including the City of Fire trilogy, the middle volume of which won the 2003 James Fenimore Cooper Prize for Best Historical Fiction and the 2003 American Book Award. He is a regular contributor to Politico, The New York Times, and The New York Times Book Review. He is a contributing editor and columnist at Harper's, and a contributing editor at The New Republic.
Richard Cameron is a principal designer at Atelier & Co. in Brooklyn. He is the co-founder of both the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art and The Beaux-Arts Atelier, an educational platform for practicing architecture as a fine art. In 2013 he received The Arthur Ross Board of Directors Honor Award from the ICA&A.
Wally Rubin has been District Manager of Manhattan's Community Board Five for eleven years. During that time, he has worked on the five year Greater East Midtown rezoning effort, the current Garment Center rezoning, the various efforts around the West Midtown Transit Corridor (including Penn Station and the Port Authority Bus Terminal), the growth of the pedestrian plazas, and all the other issues that have shaped the central business district over the last decade. Earlier, Rubin worked as Director of Theatre for the Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting, for Borough President Ruth Messinger, and as an aide to Congressman Ted Weiss.
Dani Simons is Vice President for Strategic Communications at the Regional Plan Association. She oversaw the rollout of RPA's Fourth Regional Plan, and is working with RPA staff and partners to create a communications strategy to speed the implementation of the plan’s recommendations. She previously served as the global head of communications for Motivate, a global leader in bike share and was part of the launch team for Citi Bike, the largest and most successful bike share program in the western world.
Samuel Turvey is Chairman of the Rebuild Penn Station Steering Committee. He is a native New Yorker and daily Penn Station commuter from Northern New Jersey. A long-time community activist and participant in charitable causes, he founded and produced the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival in Manhattan’s Tompkins Square and Marcus Garvey Parks. He is a trustee of the National Jazz Museum in Harlem and the John Noble Museum of Maritime Art on Staten Island. Turvey is a Regulatory and Compliance attorney at TIAA.
MODERATOR: Justin Shubow is President of the National Civic Art Society, a non-profit organization that promotes the classical and humanistic tradition in public art and architecture. In September, the White House announced that he is to be appointed to the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts.