Moynihan Station

[TEREB]

I don’t know if this has been asked and answered before, but we’ll be coming out of the Moynihan station looking to go uptown. Do we have to cross the street to get a taxi in front of the old Penn Station, or can I stay on the Moynihan side and grab a cab? We’re going to Port Authority. Unless someone has an easier way to get to Middletown, NY? We are 2 seniors with luggage. So we’re looking for the easiest way. I know Mento North Port Jervis line goes there, but I can’t figure how to get to it.

 

[brianpmcdonnell17]

If you want to take the Port Jervis Line, just take an NJ Transit train from Penn Station to Secauacus Junction and transfer to the Port Jervis Line there. Every NJ Transit train out of Penn Station passes Secausus Junction, although there may be a small number that don't stop. Also, if you're coming from the south/west, you can avoid NY Penn Station entirely and transfer to NJ Transit at Newark Penn Station. That would still require a second transfer at Secaucus Junction though.

 

[jis]

Unless someone has an easier way to get to Middletown, NY? We are 2 seniors with luggage. So we’re looking for the easiest way. I know Mento North Port Jervis line goes there, but I can’t figure how to get to it.

To get to Middletown NY by Metro North, you can do so from Penn Station. You can buy a ticket to Middletown NY from any NJTransit Ticket Machine or from the NJT Ticket Window in the old Penn Station in the old Amtrak hall or even on your Smartphone with the NJT App, Then you take any NJT train that stops at Secaucus to Secaucus, transfer there to a Metro North Port Jervis train (operated by NJ Transit using NJ Transit or Metro North equipment) which will stop at Middletown NY. Make sure you look for Middletown NY and not Middletown NJ. Make sure to check the schedules for Port Jervis, which NJT would be able to help you with. Port Jervis trains are relatively infrequent. You can check it online at

https://www.njtransit.com/
I wish I could tell you more about where the taxis are these days, but I am not sure how they have rearranged things with the opening of Moynihan Train Hall.

 

[Bob Dylan]

I don’t know if this has been asked and answered before, but we’ll be coming out of the Moynihan station looking to go uptown. Do we have to cross the street to get a taxi in front of the old Penn Station, or can I stay on the Moynihan side and grab a cab? We’re going to Port Authority. Unless someone has an easier way to get to Middletown, NY? We are 2 seniors with luggage. So we’re looking for the easiest way. I know Mento North Port Jervis line goes there, but I can’t figure how to get to it.

Redacted, answered by other Members.

 

[TEREB]

Thank you. Good suggestions. I appreciate.

 

[railiner]

Just wanted to add to the above that at Secaucus station, you will need to take elevator down to the lower level for the Port Jervis trains...

 

[jis]

Just wanted to add to the above that at Secaucus station, you will need to take elevator down to the lower level for the Port Jervis trains...

Actually first elevators up to the transfer concourse, pass through the barrier gate using the QR Code on your ticket to enter it, and then elevator down to the Port Jervis (Bergen or Main Line). The track will be displayed on the departure board at the transfer concourse.

 

[railiner]

Actually first elevators up to the transfer concourse, pass through the barrier gate using the QR Code on your ticket to enter it, and then elevator down to the Port Jervis (Bergen or Main Line). The track will be displayed on the departure board at the transfer concourse.

Thanks for that info...although I have ridden thru that station on Amtrak, I have never been in it.

 

[crescent-zephyr]

Thanks for that info...although I have ridden thru that station on Amtrak, I have never been in it.

It’s a really cool station. Custom color solari boards!

 

[railiner]

When they finally get the Gateway project going, perhaps they will take that opportunity to finally build a connection between the NEC and the Port Jervis line, for thru service...

And maybe for the River Line, as well...

 

[user 14106]

I don’t know if this has been asked and answered before, but we’ll be coming out of the Moynihan station looking to go uptown. Do we have to cross the street to get a taxi in front of the old Penn Station, or can I stay on the Moynihan side and grab a cab? We’re going to Port Authority. Unless someone has an easier way to get to Middletown, NY? We are 2 seniors with luggage. So we’re looking for the easiest way. I know Mento North Port Jervis line goes there, but I can’t figure how to get to it.

See from Amtrak website reference taxi service:

Moynihan Train Hall is located at 351 West 31st Street, New York, New York. The taxi area is located at mid-block on 31st Street between 8th and 9th Avenues (near the main entrance). Rideshare will be located mid-block on 33rd Street between 8th and 9th Avenues.

 

[railiner]

They couldn't get the name of Penn Station changed, so they instead have taken every possible opportunity to flood every possible means with that name....plastered in big letters everywhere on the building, on signs, as the booking location in the reservation system, on tickets, etc....

 

[jis]

They couldn't get the name of Penn Station changed, so they instead have taken every possible opportunity to flood every possible means with that name....plastered in big letters everywhere on the building, on signs, as the booking location in the reservation system, on tickets, etc....

And yet I got the impression that over half the people who boarded the Silver Meteor that I took from NYP boarded from the old Penn Station side and not through the Moynihan Train Hall. All the gymnastics cannot change the fact that the old station has much better transit access than the new Hall.

 

[NYP2NFL01]

I plan to figure this out before I travel from Penn Station - I'm taking an Uber from home to the station. I should ask the Uber driver to drop me off mid-block on 33rd Street instead of 31st Street? Does the street location only matter to pickups as opposed to drop-offs?

 

[MARC Rider]

All the gymnastics cannot change the fact that the old station has much better transit access than the new Hall.

It's not so much transit access (the 8th Ave subway is right there), as it's the fact that the new train hall is at the far west end of the platforms, so most people getting off a train will probably take the first available "up" escalator and end up in the old station. If they board from the new train hall, they're going to have to walk all the way down the train to get to their car, unless it happens to be at the west end of the platform. Thus, I suspect that many "people in the know," if they don't need Amtrak station services or aren't using the Metro Lounge, will just board from the old station.

OK, and it's true it's a long block walk underground (right now through a construction site) to get to the 7th Avenue Subway. And you need to go to the old station to transfer to NJT.

 

[trainman74]

I plan to figure this out before I travel from Penn Station - I'm taking an Uber from home to the station. I should ask the Uber driver to drop me off mid-block on 33rd Street instead of 31st Street? Does the street location only matter to pickups as opposed to drop-offs?

In general, rideshare drivers can drop off in any spot that's otherwise legal for any private vehicle to drop someone off, so you shouldn't need to direct the driver to drop you off at a specific location.

 

[Maverickstation]

I don’t know if this has been asked and answered before, but we’ll be coming out of the Moynihan station looking to go uptown. Do we have to cross the street to get a taxi in front of the old Penn Station, or can I stay on the Moynihan side and grab a cab? We’re going to Port Authority. Unless someone has an easier way to get to Middletown, NY? We are 2 seniors with luggage. So we’re looking for the easiest way. I know Mento North Port Jervis line goes there, but I can’t figure how to get to it.

As mentioned you can transfer easily at Secaucus Station to the Port Jervis Line for service to Middletown-Wallkill New York.
The station itself is in Wallkill, NY, not Middletown (the line that went through downtown Middletown was abandoned by Metro-North in 1983).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middletown–Town_of_Wallkill_station
To board NJ Transit services you want to use the NJT concourse, at the "old" Penn Station, the NJT Concourse is near 7th Avenue.
The Monynihan Train Hall does not offer direct access to NJT trains, and NJT tickets are not valid for use of the Waiting Room at Moynihan.

Ken

PS. Before someone chimes in here, if you are in the Moynihan Hall, and mobility is not an issue, you can access NJT services by following the signs
for the LIRR, once on the LIRR concourse, walk towards 7th Avenue. From the area where the LIRR Ticket Windows are, turn right and you'll see the NJT
section of Penn Station.

 

[Exvalley]

Some disturbing news about the increase in crime in the vicinity of Penn Station:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10029519/Photos-rampant-drug-use-homeless-Penn-Station.html
From the article: The largest spikes are in the number of robberies - which increased 189 percent

A very sad situation all around.

 

[PaTrainFan]

I have visited New York countless times over the last 40 some years and never felt uneasy or out of place. But I was in there twice this summer, staying across the street from Moynihan Hall. I was very uncomfortable from what I saw there. Not sure I will feel good about going back again.

 

[jis]

I have visited New York countless times over the last 40 some years and never felt uneasy or out of place. But I was in there twice this summer, staying across the street from Moynihan Hall. I was very uncomfortable from what I saw there. Not sure I will feel good about going back again.

In my extensive experience with Penn Station over 40 or so years, the 8th Ave. side has always been a little bit iffier than the 7th Ave. side. But then again I am quite city in general and New York City in particular, savvy, so my experience may be quite different from someone that is not.

Although, truth be told, the only scuffle that I ever got into was on the 7th Ave. side but there were additional issues, like immediately after the conclusion of the New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square as the crowd was walking back to Penn Station in my case to catch an LIRR train back to Stony Brook. Too many drunk people who didn't know their posteriors from their elbows, though I was not one of the drunk ones. That did not prevent someone randomly taking a swing at me for no particular discernible reason. I was agile and ducked, and that was the end of it. He went off to harass someone else. This was back in 1979-80.

 

[BlackDiamond]

Sounds like the bad old days of the mid 1970s when the subways were covered in graffiti. Remember going with my mom and cousin from England to show her the city and walking down Broadway in the evening, felt pretty uncomfortable. Did get a nice ride back to Boston on the UAC Turbotrain so it ended well.

 

[PaTrainFan]

In my extensive experience with Penn Station over 40 or so years, the 8th Ave. side has always been a little bit iffier than the 7th Ave. side. But then again I am mquite city in general and New York City in particular, savvy, so my experience may be quite different from someone that is not.

Although, truth be told, the only scuffle that I ever got into was on the 7th Ave. side but there were additional issues, like immediately after the conclusion of the New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square as the crowd was walking back to Penn Station in my case to catch an LIRR train back to Stony Brook. Too many drunk people who didn't know their posteriors from their elbows, though I was not one of the drunk ones. That did not prevent someone randomly taking a swing at me for no particular discernible reason. I was agile and ducked, and that was the end of it. He went off to harass someone else. This was back in 1979-80.

I remember the armpit days of 42nd Street in the early 80s but even then I didn't feel uncomfortable for whatever reason. Maybe it's just my age showing now, I don't know. Oh, I'll return, just feeling more alert and careful.

 

[jis]

I remember the armpit days of 42nd Street in the early 80s but even then I didn't feel uncomfortable for whatever reason. Maybe it's just my age showing now, I don't know. Oh, I'll return, just feeling more alert and careful.

Likewise. I have never had a problem. It was by far not the worst area of the New York Metropolitan Area. The entire 7th/8th Ave Midtown area has improved orders of magnitude since the late '70s and early '80s. But then again areas like Bed-Stuy have improved even more orders of magnitude apparently. The gentrification of areas that were complete disasters back then has been quite unbelievable.

 

[daybeers]

Some disturbing news about the increase in crime in the vicinity of Penn Station:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10029519/Photos-rampant-drug-use-homeless-Penn-Station.html
From the article: The largest spikes are in the number of robberies - which increased 189 percent

A very sad situation all around.

Of course the Daily Mail reports on this. Maybe we should use actual news sources, and then maybe figure out who is committing the crime: is it really the homeless people?

"Area residents" really? So you didn't take the time to actually ask residents what was going on so you could add a quote and just wrote what you wanted the article to say?

But since covid, cities are scary places everyone should avoid if you don't want to see any of the country's problems visible on the surface. People need to be able to get away quickly from all the dangerous homeless people. /s

 

[Exvalley]

Two things can be true at the same time:
1) There is a substantial increase in crime around Penn Station;
2) The homeless population is clearly in need of greater services.

You can be genuinely concerned about both of these.