Financial History Issue 126 (Summer 2018)

CONNECTING TO COLLECTIONS

THE TICKER about dozen original photographs of this construction through a 2002 donation . According to the donor , these photos possibly belonged to Samuel Rea , who became president of the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1913 . Two of these photographs are shown here .

The Long Island Rail Road became the first line extended into Manhattan in September 1910 , though the Pennsylvania Station terminal building was not yet completed . The grandiose terminal building designed by Charles McKim opened to great fanfare in November 1910 . According to the Interstate Commerce Commission , the Pennsylvania Railroad ended up spending $ 114 million in total on the tunnels and terminal project . New York could finally boast its world-class transportation infrastructure .

Unfortunately , as New York City and its suburbs developed , Penn Station did not grow with them . The original terminal building was demolished in the mid-1960s and was replaced with an underground passenger area topped by Madison Square Garden and an office building . The demolition is widely considered a tragedy and inspired the establishment of the city ’ s Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1965 to protect historic architecture .

As scores of commuters enter and exit the city through ugly , cramped passageways , frustrations with worsening conditions have been rising . New York , New Jersey and Long Island are now facing an infrastructure crisis . Proponents of the $ 30 billion “ Gateway Project ” to improve and expand transportation between New Jersey and New York argue that the states ’ economies could lose $ 100 million every day should one of the existing tunnels need to be taken out of service .

Penn Station has been surpassed over and over again by cities across the globe , and New York once again lacks innovative rail technology and a modern , welcoming environment to boast its status as a world-class city . Proposed projects to bring the tunnels and Penn Station up to date , such as the aforementioned Gateway Project , have been stymied by budgetary and political debates , despite estimates that the local economies could benefit up to $ 3 per every $ 1 spent on infrastructure improvements . In the meantime , the daily commute into and out of Manhattan from New Jersey and Long Island will continue to be the journey of a century .

MUSEUM OF AMERICAN FINANCE 2017 – 2018 DONORS *

The Museum deeply appreciates the support received from the following generous donors :

PLATINUM

•• Citadel

•• Citadel Securities

•• ICE / NYSE

•• Royce & Associates

•• Shenkman Capital Management

GOLD STANDARD

•• Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP

•• Fitch Group

•• John Herzog

•• The Ricketts Family

•• Charles Schwab & Co ., Inc .

•• The Paul E . Singer Foundation

•• Warburg Pincus

•• WilmerHale

SILVER CERTIFICATE

•• Cliff and Laurel Asness

•• Capgemini

•• Citi

•• Dalio Foundation

•• William H . and Jane P . Donaldson

••

Fried , Frank , Harris , Shriver & Jacobson LLP

•• Houlihan Lokey

•• Carol Kaimowitz

•• KKR

•• Peter G . Peterson Foundation

•• Protiviti

•• S & P Global

•• The Starr Foundation

•• Richard Sylla

•• Tishman Speyer

Financial History Issue 126 (Summer 2018) | Page 11