Documenting Penn Station’s Departure Board Demolition

Gregory Grice, a photographer for Untapped Cities, documented the demolition of Penn Station’s Amtrak departure board last week over the course of four evenings. Although this sign didn’t have the flapping sound of the Solari board that it replaced in 2000, it nonetheless had a rather lo-fi analog look which instantly became an object of nostalgia once the removal was announced. The sign has been replaced by smaller digital LCD  screens.

The 10 foot tall board was disconnected last Monday – below is a photo of the last trains to ever be displayed. Untapped Cities tour guide Justin Rivers, who wrote the off-Broadway play The Eternal Space about the demolition of the original Penn Station and gives our popular Remnants of Penn Station tours notes, “Appropriately, some of the last trains to ever grace the board were delayed,” (due to downed power lines from a storm).

January 23rd, 6:31 PM

Here is a step by step series of photographs documenting the departure sign coming down:

January 23rd, 7:50 PM

January 23rd, 11:23 PM

January 24th, 2:22 AM

January 24th, 2:34 AM

January 24th, 2:49 AM

January 24th, 3:10 AM

January 24th, 3:12 AM

Now on the other side: January 24th, 11:53 PM

January 25th, 1:29 AM

January 26th, 12:37 AM

January 26th, 3:39 AM

January 26th, 3:59 AM

January 27th, 1:23 AM

Join us for an upcoming tour of the Remnants of Penn Station with Justin Rivers:

Tour of the Remnants of Penn Station

Next, read about the Secrets of the Original Penn Station.