Cape Liberty Back to NYC on Sunday

[DragonOfTheSeas]

12 hours ago, GTJ said:

The tracks at Newark Pennsylvania Station are elevated, and one must first descend from the platform to street level by stairs, escalator, or elevator. Once on street level it is a relatively short distance to the station exits. While I am not the best judge of distance, I would say it is about 100 feet from the street level stairs, escalator, or elevator to the exit. 

Thank you for the attached map of the station.  I had searched online and gotten a couple views.  However, they were not as detailed as this.  I was pleased to see several elevators.  DH could walk these distances.  I will certainly look out for the Red Caps, but we likely could manage.  He is just not able to manage distances in large airports anymore. 

 

12 hours ago, GTJ said:

I don't understand what the word "sketchy" means. I was thinking of several possibilities of how the term might be used by some people with respect to Newark Pennsylvania Station:

1. The station is dirty and not kept clean.

2. The physical structure of the station is not being maintained and is crumbling.

3. There exists petty crime at the station.

 

 

I think the passenger used the term in context to say the terminal was not well maintained and she did not feel safe. Therefore, I came to cruise critic to see if others had the same opinion.  Most agree the station is not in good shape but have not had an issue with safety. 

 

I am looking forward to my cruise and feel the Newark Penn station will be the most convenient for our trip. 

 

 

PS--I did not mean to hijack this thread. Sorry!

Edited September 14, 2023 by DragonOfTheSeas

[GTJ]

30 minutes ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

Thank you for the attached map of the station. * * * I think the passenger used the term in context to say the terminal was not well maintained and she did not feel safe. Therefore, I came to cruise critic to see if others had the same opinion. Most agree the station is not in good shape but have not had an issue with safety. I am looking forward to my cruise and feel the Newark Penn station will be the most convenient for our trip.

Sometimes it is just a matter of knowing where to look for these types of things, and here I had known that New Jersey Transit published these types of maps. It sounds like it does provide the confidence you were seeking!

 

I think you're doing right by planning to use Newark Pennsylvania Station. The station is well-enough maintained because, at least in part, the corporate headquarters of New Jersey Transit is directly across the street, corporate executives use the station all the time for their own travels, and it is used by New Jersey Transit as a showpiece. This video provides an accurate sense of the train station environment. Note that the videographer is walking the long way around the station in giving a tour, and your walk within the station would likely be slightly shorter.

 

Newark Pennsylvania Station is in sharp contrast to Amtrak's North Philadelphia station, a once-important station but which now truly suffers from a lack of physical maintenance . . . which is illustrated in the following video clip. https://youtu.be/IZ6TjSdtIe0?si=jvZ2PTr8TWIfKlWd

 

Edited September 14, 2023 by GTJ

[njhorseman]

30 minutes ago, GTJ said:

 

 The station is well-enough maintained because, at least in part, the corporate headquarters of New Jersey Transit is directly across the street, corporate executives use the station all the time for their own travels, and it is used by New Jersey Transit as a showpiece.

 

While I certainly agree that the poster shouldn't be concerned about using Newark Penn Station, the station is hardly a showplace and is only well-enough maintained to keep it usable. In fact per NJ Transit the State of New Jersey has committed more $190 million to renovate Newark Penn Station "to again be the crown jewel of the state’s transportation system". For NJ Transit to use the words "to again be" is a rather clear statement about the condition of the facility.

 

And as far as its headquarters is concerned, NJ Transit is moving from the headquarters building that it owns and will be spending a reported $440 million over 25 years to rent space at Two Gateway Center...still very nearby...but a very strange decision to abandon the building it owns in favor of spending far more on leased space than the estimated $120 million it would cost to renovate the current headquarters.

 

Here's the press release announcing the new headquarters lease, which also mentions the station renovation:

 

https://www.njtransit.com/press-releases/nj-transit-signs-lease-new-headquarters

[GTJ]

4 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

 

NJ Transit is moving from the headquarters building that it owns and will be spending a reported $440 million over 25 years to rent space at Two Gateway Center...still very nearby...but a very strange decision to abandon the building it owns in favor of spending far more on leased space than the estimated $120 million it would cost to renovate the current headquarters.

Wow! I don't understand that decision. I cannot recall exactly when NJT moved into the building, but I have no reason to doubt that it is 30 years, even though it seems like it was only recently that they did so. The press release makes it sound like the building is obsolete, yet it seems to me to still be a "new" location. I can still remember when NJT was headquartered at 180 Boyden Avenue in Maplewood, inherited from Public Service.

 

Newark Pennsylvania Station is not glitzy, such as is the Moynihan Train Hall at New York City's Pennsylvania Station, but I do think that it is one of NJT's showpieces, not something that NJT tries to hide or is an embarrassment. Plans are to further upgrade it (let's hope for a crown jewel!), not replace it. I see it as being on par with their other substantial and historic facilities, such as Hoboken terminal. What are the facilities that NJT considers to be their best? The Frank R. Lautenberg Rail Station at Secaucus Junction? That section of New York Pennsylvania Station that NJT created a few years ago? I suppose one can argue as to what is NJT's "best," but I think that Newark Pennsylvania Station comes in high, if not at the top, on any such list, even today without it yet being a "crown jewel."