April 9 – This is New York. You don’t “close” Penn Station. You survive it.
For eight World Cup matches this summer at MetLife Stadium, including the final, parts of the famed and unloved Penn Station will be shut down to everyone except ticket-holders for four hours before kickoff. If you’ve got a match ticket, you’re in. If you’re just trying to get to work in Jersey? Good luck.
Per reports, fans will be funnelled through controlled entry points on 33rd and 32nd along Seventh Avenue. Amtrak and LIRR riders get pushed to alternate entrances. NJ Transit commuters heading west? Locked out of Penn entirely during that window.
Quite simply, the busiest rail hub in the country will effectively be reserved for soccer fans… in New York… on a weekday.
The major issue is that FIFA and the MTA still don’t have a clear, public plan for how this is all supposed to work. Not for fans. Not for commuters. Not for the millions moving through the most complicated transit ecosystem in the country.
Penn Station is expected to be the launch point, with the majority of fans routed onto NJ Transit trains to Secaucus Junction, then transferred onto dedicated service straight to MetLife but this is New York and nothing is that simple.
You’re talking about compressing game-day crowds into a system that already runs hot, then telling everyday riders to figure it out.
This city can handle anything. But it doesn’t like being told to stand aside. “Hey, I’m walking here.”