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Manhattan circa 1909. "New Pennsylvania Station, New York, N.Y." The Beaux-Arts behemoth whose demolition in 1963 lit a fire under the nation's armchair architects. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative. View full size.
That it took about nine years to build the station. It was completed about a year after this picture was taken. The building itself covers about 8 acres and is about 1150 ft. tall. When the station was demolished in 1963, only the above ground portion was torn down. The train tracks and lower platforms still exist. This is now the site of Madison Square Garden and the Penn Hotel.
[Over a thousand feet tall? I definitely did not know that. - Dave]
While I was working in the Hotel Pennsylvania (where that hole is in the foreground) a few years ago, I realized that the bulk of the construction material for the Station, and the hotel, were brought there by horse and wagon.
Now look at the size of the building materials.
The size and scale of the building becomes really apparent when compared to the men working on the roof.
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