Behold: Penn Station's Planned New Entrance Revealed

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — The moment frustrated Penn Station commuters have been waiting for is arriving in 2020. Not reliable train service, repairs to the dilapidated tunnels or a cleaner station, but instead a new set of stairs.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo held a surprise press conference Thursday — drawing press away from rival Bill de Blasio's presidential announcement — to say that work will begin on a new Penn Station entrance on West 33rd Street and Seventh Avenue in the coming months. The new entrance will connect directly to the Long Island Rail Road concourse and the subway from street level, state officials said.

"Passengers will be able to come in that entrance and avoid the front of Penn Station, there will be less traffic and you'll have access to the subway and the LIRR. It will be a gateway to a world class facility. This is not a proposal - we are getting to work now," Cuomo said Thursday.

The new entrance is expected to open in December 2020. In addition to providing direct access to the Long Island Rail Road, the project will result in a more spacious LIRR concourse, state officials said. The concourse will be widened from 30 feet to 57 feet and ceiling heights will be raised to 18 feet, which should make the area feel less cramped.

Officials estimate the project will cost $600 million, with $170 million in funding coming from the 2015-19 MTA capital plan and the rest coming from the state.

The new entrance is part of a plan to completely overhaul Penn Station. That plan also includes the construction of the new Moynihan Train Hall in the James A. Farley post office building between Eighth and Ninth avenues. The trail hall will provide access to Penn Station from Ninth Avenue for the first time. The new transit facility is also expected to open in December 2020.

Work to transform the James A. Farley post office building into the Moynihan Train Hall began in August 2017. The project is expected to cost $1.6 billion and is being funded by "$550 million from the State, $420 million from Amtrak, the MTA, the Port Authority and a federal grant, and $630 million from the joint venture developers," according to a state press release.

"New Yorkers have been subject to cramped, dark conditions at Penn Station for too long - and this new entrance, along with Moynihan Train Hall, will help provide the access commuters need and deserve," Empire State Development CEO and Commissioner Howard Zemsky said in a statement.